Guitarrista Alirio Camacaro: Son actos políticos los conciertos del sistema de orquestas juveniles

6 Agosto, 2014

Enrique Meléndez / especial Noticiero Digital / 6 ago 2014.- El guitarrista caroreño Alirio Camacaro, de paso por Caracas luego de haber estado unos días en el país, terció en la polémica acerca de la politización del sistema de orquestas sinfónicas juveniles.

opinan los foristas

Se muestra de acuerdo con la pianista Gabriela Montero quien dice que hoy en día las presentaciones de las orquestas, más que espectáculos artísticos, son espectáculos políticos con música académica de fondo.
¿Cómo ve usted el movimiento del sistema de orquestas sinfónicas juveniles, que ha venido formando el maestro José Antonio Abreu?
-Yo creo que es encomiable la labor que ha venido desarrollando el maestro José Antonio Abreu en la formación, sobre todo, del sistema de orquestas sinfónicas juveniles. De allí han salido músicos muy prestigiosos como el joven director; paisano nuestro del estado Lara, Gustavo Dudamel; la pianista Gabriela Montero; para nombrar en estos momentos los más destacados.
-Me parece que ha adquirido una gran reputación a nivel internacional el sistema de orquestas juveniles que se han venido formando a nivel de toda Venezuela; lo cual es una clara demostración de que en nuestro país sí hay un movimiento musical muy importante y que se expresa en las triunfantes giras que han tenido a nivel mundial, de acuerdo a lo que hemos podido leer en los medios de comunicación.
-Quiero observar dos cosas; la primera es que hay que destacar que este sistema de orquestas juveniles se gesta en la ciudad de Carora a la cabeza de un entusiasta músico, Juan Martínez Herrera, y a quien le llegan dos profesores de música chilenos salidos de allá por la persecución instaurada por la para ese momento recién instaurada dictadura de Augusto Pinochet; fueron enviados por Antonio Estévez, quien había sido muy amigo de Herrera durante sus tiempos de integrantes del orfeón universitario.
-Martínez Herrera trabajaba como odontólogo en Carora y había fundado un orfeón, y fomentó un movimiento musical en una ciudad a la que se le da, precisamente, ese carácter: ciudad musical de Venezuela; de modo que era la persona más indicada para recibir a estos dos músicos chilenos quienes venían con la idea de formar una orquesta sinfónica infantil; que era una obra que ellos venían haciendo en Chile pero que por la situación de mucha tensión política en que derivó la caída de Salvador Allende tuvieron que interrumpir y viajar a Venezuela.
-Es decir, el precursor de este sistema de orquestas juveniles que uno conoce en este país es Martínez Herrera, y, por supuesto, continuado por el maestro Abreu, y a quien hay que reconocerle esta encomiable labor.
-Lo otro que quiero observar es que me parece que tal como está concebido hoy en día dicho sistema orquestal hay allí mucho de sumisión al actual régimen, que gobierna a este país; eso de presentarse con camisas rojas los músicos que integran la orquesta; colgando una gigantografía de Chávez en el escenario; vestidos al igual que el presidente de la República, estoy de acuerdo con lo que se ha dicho por ahí de que a la final, estas presentaciones de las orquestas terminan adquiriendo un corte de carácter político, más que académico, y lo cual desvirtúa mucho el escenario musical en el sentido de que el acto en sí se transforma en un acto de proselitismo político con todo el ventajismo para el oficialismo, que los encabeza.
-Por esta razón nosotros pudiéramos decir que son actos políticos con música académica de fondo, que es lo que le he escuchado decir creo que a Gabriela Montero, lo cual desvirtúa por completo el acto sinfónico en sí; sobre todo, cuando uno ve que todo el mundo está vestido de rojo en el escenario.

 

GAbriela Montero, pianist

If there was any doubt whatsoever that El Sistema, founded 38 years ago, has become a propaganda tool of Chavismo, read the attached invitation from the Embassy of Venezuela in Germany to a forum in Munich on May 28th, entitled:

"El Sistema - an example of the social inclusion policies of the Bolivarian Revolution."

Let me be clear, yet again. I advocate with passion for all societies worldwide to value art as a central pillar of education and civility.

But I reject with the same passion the cynical and willful appropriation of an orchestral system - with youth and music central to the illusion - to conceal abroad the catastrophic failures of the so-called "revolution" back home. The "Bolivarian Revolution" is a manifest failure, and no orchestra, no Mahler symphony, and no propaganda movie can alter that grim, daily reality. The Bavarians themselves are no strangers to these cynical propaganda tactics.

I call upon all the musicians of El Sistema to refuse, once and for all, to be used in foreign lands by this regime as potent symbols of revolutionary success, unless you consider 65,000 murders in 3 years on the streets of Venezuela, and the total collapse of the Venezuelan economy, to be acceptable measures of success.

The choice is a simple moral one. And the choice is now yours. Make the right choice. Please, do not continue to export an abject and miserable LIE to the outside world! Please demonstrate solidarity towards those murdered, tortured and detained by agents of the very same "revolution" you are representing. Honor the young men and women like yourselves who have put their lives on the line to bring true and lasting change to ALL Venezuelans.

EN ESPAÑOL:

Si existia alguna duda de que El Sistema se ha convertido en una herramienta de propaganda del Chavismo, lean esta invitacion a un foro en Munich el 28 de Mayo, de la Embajada de Venezuela en Alemania.

Nuevamente, seré muy clara. Siempre defenderé apasionadamente la importancia del arte como parte fundamental de la educación y de la civilidad en una sociedad.

Pero con la misma pasión, rechazo la cínica y voluntaria apropiación de un sistema orquestal - donde la juventud y la música son centrales a esa ilusión - para esconder en el exterior el catastrófico fracaso de la llamada "revolución" en nuestro país. La "Revolucion Bolivariana" es un ya comprobado fracaso, y ninguna orquesta, ninguna sinfonía de Mahler, y ninguna película de propaganda puede alterar esa triste y nefasta realidad. Los Bávaros conocen muy de cerca estas cínicas tácticas propagandistas.

Le hago un llamado a todos los músicos de El Sistema a que se rehusen, de una vez por todas, a ser utilizados en el extranjero y en nuestro país por este régimen como símbolos del "éxito revolucionario", al menos que consideren los 65,000 asesinatos en 3 años en Venezuela, y el total colapso de la economía Venezolana, como aceptable evidencia del "éxito" del régimen.

La elección es una elección moral. Y ahora les toca a ustedes escoger cual camino tomaran. Cual es el camino correcto. Por favor, no continúen exportando una vil y miserable MENTIRA al mundo! Por favor demuestren solidaridad hacia aquellos asesinados, torturados y detenidos por los agentes de esa misma "revolución" que están representando. Honren con sus acciones y con su empatía a los jóvenes hombres y mujeres como ustedes que han puesto sus vidas en riesgo buscando un verdadero y duradero cambio para TODOS los Venezolanos.

 

 Gabriela Montero,

 (criticizes those musicians who are in favor of the murderous and corrupt dictatorship in Venezuela and Gustavo Dudamel, José Antonio Abreu, Clara Rodriguez living in luxury with the Venezuelan people's money)

  To those of you who have loyally stayed with me on Facebook while I resist the situation in Venezuela, I thank you. I know some have left, and I understand that. Others have created alternate Facebook pages to separate music from politics. I understand that, too. But, as Stanislavski said, the artist can only be the person he/she is in that moment. And in this moment, this is who I am, who we are, and what so many of us are living and breathing.

BUT....

Music and film often carry profound social metaphors. And sometimes those metaphors deal with subjects like tyranny and resistance. Albert Camus' "The Plague" is a metaphor about resistance to Naziism. The rats bring destruction to society, and Dr. Rieux finds himself at the center of the fight against the plague. ACTION is central to his resistance.

Similarly, Murnau used the metaphor of rats and plague to represent the arrival of the vampire Nosferatu in Wisborg. Only the light of the sun could conquer the darkness.

In an act of MUSICAL RESISTANCE, I gave a concert in Berlin recently in which I improvised a score to Murnau's "Nosferatu". Each note played was a reaction in real time to Murnau's literal and subliminal messages, and as the film progresses and the plague arrives, my musical reaction intensified. The performance itself became by own personal metaphor of resistance to what ALL Venezuelans are living today - the plague of violence and corruption on an epidemic scale.

I would like to share that performance with you here, and in doing so I would like to offer my admiration and respect to all of those who are engaged in acts of peaceful but effective resistance today in Venezuela. I will continue to publicly resist the efforts of those whose criticism of the protesters - the EFFECT - is intentionally designed to deflect and distract from the Venezuelan plague of violence and corruption - the CAUSE.

In love and solidarity,

Gabriela Montero

(If you would like to share, please share with this explanatory text too. Thanks!)

Footnote: this performance took place at the Kommische Oper, Berlin, which stands geographically at the very epicenter of the catastrophic 20th century struggle between the extreme right and left. Neither side prevailed, and hundreds of millions lost their lives. Lest we forget...

 

Gabriela Montero 
fighting for a free Venezuela dictatorship

PLEASE SHARE WITH MY TEXT BELOW:

There is a very important article today in the NEW YORK TIMES, by Anthony Tommasini. I would like to thank Mr. Tommasini for bringing this balanced analysis to the international public consciousness.

For those who feel "we" should remain silent and acquiescent, I would also like to add a thought about the role of the artist in society, by borrowing and adapting Shylock's sentiments in "The Merchant of Venice":

"I am an artist.
Hath not an artist eyes? Hath not an artist hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
to the same diseases, healed by the same means,
warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as
any other? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison
us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will
resemble you in that."

So, to my esteemed colleagues in the arts, I can only insist that the artist lives IN society, not within an abstract, protected sub-set of society. My questions to ALL Venezuelan artists are simple ones, ultimately: Is this the society in which you want to live and raise your children? Can you tolerate an erosion of human dignity on the scale of 25,000 murders per year, a 600% rise in 15 years? Can you continue to burnish internationally the image of a government which is responsible for these appalling conditions, which ranks 160/175 on the list of the world's most corrupt nations? Can you truly LIVE in the world's most dangerous capital city, or do you merely survive in it? Can you accept 93% impunity? Can you accept 57.3% inflation? Can you accept total control of mainstream media by the state? Can you accept the dismantling of the three independent branches of government, and rule by decree? Can you accept the abuse of basic human rights, including the basic denial of security? Can you accept your police and military trading arms and bribes to criminal gangs, so your brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, and you - yes YOU - can be kidnapped, robbed and killed?

Is this really such a radical examination of reality?

And finally, to all the young musicians of Venezuela: What is your future role in the real world? What will that real world look like? What work opportunities will there be for you outside of the concert halls, when the time comes? Music and art constitute the spiritual lifeblood of our society, but they are not its organs, its skeleton, its skin. You can not ignore your greater socio-economic context. You can not linger in the illusion that music alone - while a great and essential joy in all of our lives - can provide your future livelihood, your safety from the wolves outside your door, and a secure future for your children. Now is a time for securing the future of the nation, so ALL Venezuelans can enjoy the fair, inclusive, uplifting opportunities that you have come to enjoy on the concert stage. Zoom out from the musical microcosm, and scrutinize the societal macrocosm. BECAUSE YOU LIVE IN IT, whoever you are, whatever you do in life.

Gustavo Dudamel and Valery Gergiev Face National Issues

www.nytimes.com

Gustavo Dudamel, a Venezuelan with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Valery Gergiev, a Russian with the Mariinsky Theater, are being asked to decry their government’s actions.

 

Gabriela Montero,

This tweet of the Venezuelan pianist Clara Rodriguez, is incomprehensible, unacceptable and unforgivable. At this moment so critical when I need more support than ever to deliver us from this evil dictatorship such propaganda in defense of the dictatorship does nothing but feed the lies and blindness abroad.

Clara Rodriguez:

@ VENPIANISTA ". Nearly all of the opposition protests have taken place recently That in Vzla would not be tolerated in any democratic nation in the world"

"Almost all opposition protests that have recently happened in Venezuela, would not be tolerated in any democratic country in the world"

And I'm asking you, Clara, you call that tolerance? Who is "tolerating" the protests? Because to my knowledge, the Venezuelan government assassin. That is not tolerance ..

Better change it to "In democratic countries, GOVERNMENT RESPECT THE RIGHT TO PROTEST WITHOUT KILLING AND TORTURING HIS PEOPLE"

This pianist that supported the dictatorial regime in Venezuela should be discriminated

 The pianist Clara Rodriguez is the ambassador of the murderer, corrupt and perverse Venezuelan government

 

Political Cacophony Challenges Musicians

Gustavo Dudamel and Valery Gergiev Face National Issues

By ANTHONY TOMMASINI APRIL 3, 2014

Photo

The Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel was the subject of protests at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in February. Credit Reed Saxon/Associated Press

On Feb. 12, the charismatic Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel led a youth orchestra in Caracas to celebrate the 39th anniversary of El Sistema, the government-supported program that has organized hundreds of thousands of children across Venezuela into instrumental ensembles, serving as a model of using music education for social uplift. As the performance was underway, a crackdown on peaceful demonstrations was being enforced in the streets. People were protesting the policies of President Nicolás Maduro’s government, along with the pervasive crime, crippling inflation and scarcities that plague Venezuela today.

According to news reports, Venezuelan security forces have been using excessive force to put down continuing anti-government protests, including beatings and shooting into unarmed crowds. More than three dozen people, including protesters, bystanders and soldiers, have been killed and there have been widespread injuries.

The events of Feb. 12 proved too much for the self-exiled Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero, who was an outspoken critic of Mr. Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, and is a vocal opponent of the Maduro government. She released a letter on social media explaining that out of respect and affection for Mr. Dudamel and José Antonio Abreu, the founder of El Sistema, she had kept quiet — until then.

Photo

The Russian conductor Valery Gergiev has faced questions about his support for his country’s positions on gay rights and the annexation of Crimea. Credit Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times

“I love the musicians in El Sistema,” she wrote. But “the leaders have a moral duty to speak up and risk whatever is necessary in order to stand up against this dictatorship that we are now suppressed by.” In a plea that cut to the core of the issue of an artist’s responsibility in society, an issue that has come up especially in the world of classical music of late, Ms. Montero wrote: “No more excuses. No more ‘Artists are above and beyond everything.’ No more ‘We do it for the kids.’ ”

The kids in El Sistema have been Mr. Dudamel’s exact justification for cultivating good relations with the Chávez and the Maduro governments. He says that he, personally, is responsible for the welfare of countless children in his homeland, many of them from impoverished regions. But in what social and human rights context are these young people making music and learning to work together? The dilemma raises the crucial question of what role an artist should play in a nation’s life — at any time, let alone during a period of violent conflict. In this situation, Ms. Montero’s call for Mr. Dudamel to speak up seems absolutely right.

In an open statement addressed to the Los Angeles Philharmonic family, Mr. Dudamel, music director of that ensemble since 2009, defended his decision to conduct the youth orchestra while violence raged in the city.

“Should the concert have been canceled, thereby sending hundreds of young people who had already arrived at the hall back into those same streets?” he wrote. As the public face of El Sistema, Mr. Dudamel has become its chief protector. “I cannot allow El Sistema to be a casualty of politics. Regardless of political or public pressure, I will continue this work in Venezuela and throughout the world.”

Continue reading the main story

Do artists have a special responsibility to speak out about injustice? Or do artists contribute best to social welfare by the practice of their art, and that alone? This issue is pertinent in classical music, because the field is considered, for better or worse, a high art with a mystique of gravitas and enlightenment. And classical music crosses international boundaries; governments of all kinds and all times have embraced it to enhance their prestige.

The questions above came up at the opening event of the Metropolitan Opera’s season in September, when a new production of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” was performed. As the gala’s patrons walked toward the opera house, some three dozen gay rights demonstrators gathered near Lincoln Center Plaza to call on the Russian maestro Valery Gergiev, who was conducting that night, to denounce the antigay policies of Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin. These laws include a vague ban on propaganda for nontraditional sexual relationships, which could be interpreted as merely being openly gay. The protesters also called on the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, who was singing the role of Tatiana, to denounce Mr. Putin’s policies.

It is hard to say what Mr. Dudamel should do about the crackdown in Venezuela. I feel for his anguish. It strikes me as unfair to go as far as Ricardo Hausmann, a former Venezuelan planning minister who is now a Harvard professor; he called Mr. Dudamel a “musical giant but a moral midget.” Even Ms. Montero is not exactly clear about what she wants of Mr. Dudamel. Is she asking him to resign from El Sistema in protest? It seems not. But she is beseeching him to speak out clearly against repressive policies, trusting that the Maduro government would not dare move against such a celebrated and influential Venezuelan. But she does not live there; Mr. Dudamel does.

Photo

A handbill at the protest in Los Angeles reads “Silence Makes You an Accomplice.” Credit Reed Saxon/Associated Press

Last month, during a Times Talks conversation that included the composer John Adams, Mr. Dudamel fidgeted in his chair as he tried to answer a question about what he should say or do concerning the crisis in his homeland, particularly the government’s response to the protests, regardless of one’s political perspective. He went a little further than he had to date in pushing back against the government when he said, “I believe in the right of people to protest, because this is a right.” He said he deplored violence whatever its origin and spoke of the great good that El Sistema has done as an “agent of social change.” He was at his weakest, though, when essentially pleading for understanding that he can only do so much.

“I am not a philosopher,” he said. “I am not a politician. I am not a doctor. I am a musician, a simple musician.”

Mr. Dudamel’s ethical bind puts in perspective Mr. Gergiev’s dismaying silence on gay rights in Russia. Mr. Gergiev, one of the major musicians of our time, has long been a Putin ally. In return, Mr. Putin has provided crucial government support for the Mariinsky Theater, which Mr. Gergiev has run since 1988. Last spring, Mr. Gergiev opened Mariinsky II, the new $700 million companion house to the opulent original 19th-century theater in St. Petersburg. Mr. Putin was among the proud attendees at the gala opening.

In response to the protests from gay rights activists, Mr. Gergiev simply issued a statement asserting that the Mariinsky Theater has long welcomed artists regardless of their backgrounds or orientations. But that was not the issue. What the demonstrators, and countless music lovers, wanted is for Mr. Gergiev to speak out against a hateful policy and, at least on this one issue, criticize the president who has bestowed on him the title Hero of Labor.

Continue reading the main story

I wonder if Mr. Gergiev has seen a short video, produced by Human Rights Watch, that shows public harassment and violent attacks fueled by discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Russians. Released before the opening of the Sochi Olympics, the video includes comments from Tanya Cooper, Russia researcher for Human Rights Watch, who says that by “turning a blind eye” to “hateful homophobic rhetoric and violence, Russian authorities are sending a dangerous message” that there “is nothing wrong with attacks on gay people.”

Some commentators have questioned why it took this issue, gay rights, to rouse people to demand that artists like Mr. Gergiev stand up to Mr. Putin. What about the many other objectionable policies of the Putin government? That is a fair question.

But discrimination against gay people cuts close to home in the arts, and the lessening of homophobia has everything to do with gay people being open and feeling embraced by leaders from all realms of life. All that Mr. Gergiev, a man of wealth and power, is being asked to do is to speak up for a persecuted minority. Mr. Dudamel, by contrast, is being pressured to take on an entire government while attempting to maintain an empowering youth program. If the Mariinsky Theater is the welcoming place Mr. Gergiev claims, what would it cost him to take a stand against the government’s antigay agenda?

Photo

Gay rights advocates protesting a performance last year of the Mariinsky Orchestra led by Valery Gergiev at Carnegie Hall. Credit Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times

To be fair, Russia has a sterling history of bending artists to the state’s will. Look what happened to Pussy Riot, the feminist, punk-rock protest group: Two of its members were in penal colonies for 21 months. A recent article in The New York Times reported that Russia’s culture ministry has pushed leading artists and intellectuals to sign a petition endorsing the annexation of Crimea. Mr. Gergiev promptly signed it. This action has set off accusations from opposition figures in the arts and academia who say that the Kremlin is resurrecting repugnant Soviet methods of intimidation. Some 200 Russian artists and intellectuals have boldly signed a counter petition protesting Mr. Putin’s policies in Crimea.

Protests against Mr. Gergiev, 60, continued in October, when he conducted the Mariinsky Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He seems impervious to condemnation from segments of the music world. But Mr. Dudamel, who at 33 has galvanized the Los Angeles Philharmonic and its audiences, a man who has become the new face of classical music, appears truly distressed.

He does not help his cause by calling himself just “a simple musician.” The artist’s role in society has never been a simple matter. Artistic institutions have been used as fronts for all manner of regimes. Since the influence of the Medici, the arts have been uncomfortably beholden to the powerful, no matter the political leanings of benefactors. You need only consider the name emblazoned on the renovated David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.

The artist’s responsibility to society was a running theme during Carnegie Hall’s recent festival Vienna: City of Dreams, anchored by the Vienna Philharmonic. During one symposium, that orchestra’s tainted legacy was discussed. How could an ensemble founded as a democratic, player-run ensemble have become a vehicle for the Nazi propaganda machine?

One panelist, Clemens Hellsberg, a violinist in the orchestra and also its chairman, has been leading an effort to answer that question by opening the institution’s archives. At Carnegie Hall, Mr. Hellsberg came across as having a clear understanding of his personal responsibility as an artist and a leader of the Vienna Philharmonic. “We can’t say that we were the ones who premiered Bruckner’s Second, Fourth, Sixth and Eighth Symphonies, or Brahms’s Second or Third, or Mahler’s Ninth, and at the same time maintain that during the Nazi era it was those other guys,” he said.

Advertisement A recent example of a principled artist speaking out took place when the conductor Zubin Mehta presented a concert at Carnegie Hall with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Mehta, its music director, is a revered figure in Israel. Yet in an interview with The New York Times before the performance, Mr. Mehta, speaking from “my private musician’s perspective,” as he put it, challenged certain policies of the Israeli government that were taking it in a “wrong direction,” he said, especially regarding the settlements.

It takes nothing away from Mr. Mehta’s forthright comments to suggest that he has less at stake than Mr. Gergiev. Israeli culture has long encouraged fierce internal debate of all national policies, especially within the Knesset, its legislative body.

Mr. Gergiev has to consider that his actions may at some distant time be the topic of a panel discussion on the artist’s responsibility. It was fitting that the opera he conducted to open the Met season was by Tchaikovsky, a towering Russian composer who was a tormented gay man.

It was also relevant that Mr. Dudamel appeared with Mr. Adams at that Times Talks event to discuss his pulsing, vibrant new Deutsche Grammophon recording (with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and fine vocal soloists) of Mr. Adams’s powerful “The Gospel According to the Other Mary,” a passion oratorio told from the perspective of Mary Magdalene, Martha and Lazarus. In it, Mary runs a shelter for unemployed and homeless women with the somber Martha. These characters, living amid hardship, have much in common with the people in impoverished areas of Venezuela who have found some uplift through El Sistema. But to thrive, the children in those ensembles have to believe they live in a country that fosters individual rights and free speech as well as the arts.