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TITLE: Emma Kirkby: 'I cannot sing for joy' |
AUTHOR: Haggai Hitron |
PUB: |
DATE: March 8, 2001 |
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British soprano Emma Kirkby, who was scheduled to arrive in Israel yesterday as a guest of the Jerusalem Music Center, cancelled her visit at the last minute. Kirkby was supposed to sing at the music center in Mishkenot Sha'ananim and at the Tel Aviv Conservatory. One of the world's top singers in the field of authentic performance, Kirkby has appeared in Israel many times, and has a close and friendly relationship with the Jerusalem Music Center.Following is the full text of a letter Kirkby sent to the Jerusalem Music Center management: "I'm very sorry. There's no easy way to put this. I cannot come this week. I made myself all ready to leave this morning, but in truth I have been unable to countenance this for a long while. It's been like a stone hanging over me and I can't stand under that stone and sing for joy in a place where people are blockaded in their villages and the safety of one group of innocent people is maintained by the oppression of another. "One of my pro-Israeli (and very knowledgeable) friends said, 'Actually it's good that Sharon is in charge. Strong men have been more successful at making peace in the past.' I hope for everyone's sake that she is right but see no sign of it yet. "I have wonderful memories of audiences in Israel. I have respect and sympathy for my Israeli musical colleagues, and for those reasons I swallowed my initial misgivings and said I would come - but I find in my gut that I can't. I realize that in the last few weeks I've said to friends, 'I'm off to Israel next week. I wish I wasn't and I'll be glad to get home again.' That's no basis for honest performance. "I don't think I've let people down professionally like this before, and again, I can only apologize for my double weakness. I'm not a political animal. I know that many of my friends in Israel are unhappy about the situation and that I don't have to live with it as they do. It was fellow feeling for them that made me agree to come - but my confusions have made things worse. I should have been braver and straighter before. Now I can only say that as of now I am, literally, indisposed. Kirkby's letter surprised and disappointed Jerusalem Music Center Director Benny Gal-Ed. The singer, who has many friends and admirers in Israel, "chose to punish those who do not deserve to be punished," he said. "I respect people who are afraid of coming here at this time," Galed added. "Obviously everyone plans his or her actions according to the degree of fear and anxiety about the dangers. I have less respect for people who wrap this very obvious human emotion in an entire web of political rationalization, on subjects of which their understanding is rather dim." In a brief telephone interview from England, Emma Kirkby expanded on her explanation of why she chose to cancel her performances in Israel. You are much loved in Israel, and have visited here so many times. How do you feel in the wake of your cancellation and the ensuing disappointment? "It's very hard for me, too. I am aware of the great disappointment of the audience and of the young artists with whom I was supposed to work. But I couldn't have acted any other way." Why did you announce the cancellation only now? "That was my big mistake. I am too weak. When the second Intifada broke out, I was beset by much hesitation and incertitude, and my colleagues in Israel knew it. Evidently I should have decided then not to come, but I apparently hoped that things would change - and they did not. The situation only got worse." You are aware that the cancellation is a political statement. "That is apparently how it is being interpreted, but I am an artist, very distant from politics. The reason that I did not come to Israel is emotional. The decision stemmed from the pain that I feel for the suffering of the Palestinians, not out of ideology." Do you have contact with Palestinians? "No. Not at all. But I have read and heard about their situation - also from Israeli friends who think the same way I do." Have your sympathies gone over to the Palestinian side? "No, they lie with both sides. But the way that things are being handled creates fertile ground and ideal conditions for the rise of Hamas, and I have a difficult time coming to terms with that. I understand the shock after a terrorist incident like in Netanya; but what we see from here is that the Palestinian side is suffering more, and more than required." Is the real reason for your cancellation the fear that overcame you after the terrorist attack in Netanya, as has been insinuated in Israel? "No - there are bombs here, too. Besides which, I know that the chance of being hurt when you cross the street is greater, and certainly the risk is even worse on airplanes, on which I fly a great deal." How do you see your relationship with Israel developing after this? "With great hopes of renewing it once the situation improves." END |