Petrelis Files

New Vid of SF Pussy Riot Russian Rally; Clippings from NYC to Oz

The protest and video from the March 3 concert generated a robust response from the classical musical world and gays everywhere on Facebook. However, before we get to the reactions give a look to the video by Ken Hodnett of the solidarity rally outside the performance hall:



Now, let's look at some of the best and most interesting posts and criticisms, starting with The Rest is Noise blog of Alex Ross who writes for the New Yorker and his post today:

Yuri Temirkanov, on tour with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, inspired a protest last night in San Francisco. The activist Michael Petrelis describes the incident and links to a video. Temirkanov seems to find it all very amusing. Evidence of the conductor's attitude toward women can be found here.

Also from New York City comes a blog post by Brian Wise at the WQXR Radio that is the only site to say they've contacted Temirkanov's U.S. agent for a statement:

The St. Petersburg Philharmonic’s American management company, Opus 3 Artists, did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. [...]

The lone in-house protester, seated in the terrace section of the auditorium, shouted, "Yuri, you're a sexist Putinist! Tell Putin to Free Pussy Riot now!" Wearing a day-glo knit ski-mask evocative of the Russian punk band, she was escorted out of the hall by an usher and the concert began shortly thereafter.A group called Gays without Borders organized the protest, which had been widely publicized beforehand.

London-based music writer Norman Albrecht's Slipped Disc blog mentioned the punk group by name, something the cameraman from KPIX told us last night would not get mentioned on TV if we said it or held signs say the P-word. Thanks, Norman:

The performance, conducted by Yuri Temirkanov on March 3 at Davies Hall in San Francisco was briefly delayed by a young pro-Pussy Riot feminist in a brightly colored balaclava, waving a rainbow flag.

In a similar vein, this time down under in Australia, Cec Busby wrote about the zap for the Gay News Network and used a screen-grab from the video:

A young queer feminist wearing a brightly coloured balaclava  a la Pussy Riot, rose to her feet waving a rainbow flag to decry conductor Yuri Termikanov's support of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The protest mimicked a similar outcry by Queer Nation at the Metropolitan Opera Gala last year when Putin supporter, conducter Valery Gergiev, appeared at Carnegie Hall.

Closer to home, Janos Gereben of the San Francisco Classical Voice paid no heed to the evidence I sent him about Temirkanov's embrace of Putin's 2012 reelection and their mutually beneficial friendship. The facts notwithstanding, he inaccurately writes activists don't know the difference between Temirkanov and another Russian conductor also palsy-walsy with Vladimir. Gereben is the only, um, confused writer about this point. Check out the comments section, where he is taken to task. He wrote:

Yuri Temirkanov and the Saint Peterburg Philharmonic ran into politically aware/(over)active San Franciscans twice Monday night during their appearance at Davies Symphony Hall. They handled it with good humor.

First, there was a demonstration outside the hall against "Putin-friend Temirkanov" (apparently confusing him with Valery Gergiev) because of Moscow's recent atrocious anti-gay campaign. [...]

Back to the subject at hand. Yes, politics in music goes back for centuries [...] But, again, that's part of music, not in demonstration against musicians and performances, such as last night's here or the recent anti-Putin protests at the Met, targeting Gergiev and Anna Netrebko. 

I didn't know the San Francisco Examiner had classical music critic on staff, did you? His name is Steven Smoliar and at the end of his very favorable review of the actual concert, he delved into the disruption with condescension dripping from every word:

It is probably worth mentioning that the Rossini overture was preceded by a brief outburst of protest from the Side Terrace. This seemed to be modeled on the Pussy Riot disruption of a church service in Moscow, but the disruption was minimal. Temirkanov offered some light applause, probably to acknowledge the tactful way in which the Davies usher removed the protestor. He probably just took her to the nearest exit door and told her to go on her way. As we know, the consequences for the members of Pussy Riot who disrupted that church were far more severe.

And then there are the many folks on Facebook who have shared reports and photos and the video with their friends and social networks, and I hope you're one of them. Again, big thanks to all participated in Monday night's fun and serious activism.