The post on Facebook is ironic but eloquent: «Fantastic! I have been informed of my exclusion. “No discrimination”, absolutely … ». But the mood of Lidia Kochariàn, a violinist originally from St. Petersburg, in Russia, must be quite different: on Monday the musician, who in September should have participated in the 41st edition of the Lipizer International Prize in Gorizia, was delivered a letter signed by the president of the organization, Lorenzo Qualli who effectively excludes her from the international music competition as Russian.
«Following the European provisions resulting from the Russian-Ukrainian war, and following the example of other international competitions of various disciplines, we are sorry to inform you of your exclusion from the 41st edition of the 2022 International Violin Competition – reads the letter -. We want to reassure you that there is no discrimination against the individual. We trust that war disputes will be resolved positively as soon as possible and peace will be restored. When that happens, we will be happy to have her again among the competitors ».
The reply of the mayor of Gorizia
A decision that leaves several people from Gorizia stunned. Starting from the mayor Rodolfo Ziberna, who explains: “It is an incomprehensible and unacceptable choice that goes against the very spirit of the event which has always interpreted music as an instrument of closeness between people, of overcoming borders and of human and cultural freedom “. And he adds: “I don’t understand what pushed the association” Lipizer “, a popular and highly prestigious Gorizia reality, to assume such an attitude since always, unfortunately, the first victim of wars is ordinary people but also free artists and to hit them means to pay innocent crimes for which they are not responsible. Indeed, I believe that today Europe should open its doors to Russian artists by giving a lesson in freedom and democracy rather than boycotting them. All the more Gorizia which, together with Nova Gorica, has won the title of European Capital of Culture for 2025 ».
Ziberna has launched an appeal to the president of the organizing association of the event, Lorenzo Qualli, to ask for an afterthought. “We all make mistakes but, luckily, most of the time we have a chance to go back and correct them. It is clear that if there is no rethinking, the Municipality will evaluate what to do, because we are faced with a discriminatory act and relations with the association could change ».
Rojc: “Decision that grieves”
According to Senator Tatjana Rojc, of the Democratic Party, “it is astonishing and deeply saddened that in Gorizia it was chosen to distinguish artists between worthy and unworthy only on the basis of their place of birth or national affiliation. I trust in an afterthought. I never had any doubts in choosing which side to take and I said clearly that we must help the attacked Ukrainians, but I am also convinced that artistic expressions and music in particular should be protected as much as possible from the intrusion of war. Today pro-Putinians can speak out in full legitimacy and a Russian violinist is prevented from playing ».