OSM welcomes Russian pianist weeks after canceling Malofeev performances

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The orchestra said on Thursday that after careful consideration, Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov will perform as planned on April 20 and 21.

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Apr 01, 2022 • 43 minutes ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation

Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov performs during a gala concert at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 2, 2011.
Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov performs during a gala concert at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 2, 2011. Photo by Dmitry Lovetsky /Associated Press

A few weeks after canceling performances by Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev, the Orchester symphonique de Montréal has announced it will allow upcoming shows, including those of another Russian artist, to go ahead as planned.

in to facebook post on Thursday, the OSM said that after careful consideration, pianist Daniil Trifonov will perform on April 20 and 21 as part of a program of Russian concertos and French tone poems.

“At the same time, the entire OSM family wishes to renew its full and sincere support for the Ukrainian people,” the post said. “We have heard comments from a large number of individuals from many different backgrounds who, in good faith and despite the horrors of war, hope that music will continue to be a vehicle for peace and solidarity between nations.”

The orchestra had canceled three scheduled performances by Malofeev in early March, a week after the Vancouver Recital Society canceled a performance of his scheduled for August amid worldwide sanctions against Russian artists by orchestras and other venues due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The OSM said at the time that welcoming Malofeev would be inappropriate.

“It was a heartbreaking decision, made while a serious humanitarian crisis was unfolding in real time before our eyes, which is still shaking Quebec and all of Canada,” the OSM’s head of public relations, Pascale Ouimet, said in an email on Friday.

Guest conductor Michael Tilson Thomas had expressed regret he wouldn’t be able to perform with Malofeev since “political situations have made it impossible,” but a photo shared on Malofeev’s Facebook page in March showed the pair got together for a drink in Montreal.

After being made aware of the Vancouver cancellation, Malofeev denounced the Russian invasion on Facebook.

“The truth is that every Russian will feel guilty for decades because of the terrible and bloody decision that none of us could influence and predict,” he wrote.

Ouimet confirmed on Friday Malofeev is welcome at the OSM and that performances of his will be announced in the future.

In its Facebook post Thursday, the orchestra said it hoped Trifonov’s performances will promote peace.

“Music brings together artists of all origins and cultures, and it is not our intention to place the burden of war on artists who have nothing to do with the atrocities being committed in Ukraine.”


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