MOSCOW — Roman amphitheater, execution
chamber, concert hall: Syria's ancient city of Palmyra has stood
witness to a diverse array of performances through the ages, from the
gruesome to the spectacular. In its most recent incarnation, it will
play host to Valery Gergiev, Russia’s most famous living conductor, who
will lead a performance of classical music Thursday featuring Russia’s
Mariinsky orchestra, titled “With a Prayer for Palmyra.”
The UNESCO world heritage site, recently recaptured from the Islamic State group by the Syrian army, has been hailed by Russian
state-controlled media and Russian officials as a turning point in the
battle against Islamic extremism in the Middle East.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has used his
country’s military intervention in support of Syrian President Bashar
Assad to assert Russia’s role on the international stage, but Western
countries say Russia targets moderate rebels in order to prop up the
Syrian leader, who is accused of killing hundreds of thousands of his
citizens in the country’s bloody five-year civil war.
A
Russian army sapper works at the historic part of Palmyra, Syria, in
this handout photo released by Russian Ministry of Defense on April 9,
2016. Photo: Reuters
“Cultural figures are showing their solidarity
with those who are fighting against terrorists: They are showing their
rejection of violence and terrorism that is so destructive for the
historical legacy of humanity,” Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said
Thursday of Gergiev's upcoming concert, the RBC news website reported.
Russian sappers said last month that they had finished
de-mining Palmyra, which saw historical monuments blown up and
widespread vandalism after it was seized by the Islamic extremist group
ISIS.
It was not immediately clear who would be
invited to attend the concert. But the Russian Culture Minister Vladimir
Medinsky and other prominent Russian cultural figures
arrived Thursday in Palymra, according to Russian news agencies. Dozens
of foreign journalists are currently on a press trip to Syria organized
by Russia’s Defense Ministry. The event will also be shown live by
several Russian state-owned news channels.
The concert may also
be an attempt to distract attention from events in Syria’s second city
of Aleppo, where a recent outburst of violence has left a ceasefire
between rebels and the government, brokered by the United States and
Russia, hanging by a thread.
The United States and Russia said Wednesday that they had agreed to extend a truce to Aleppo in an attempt to halt the escalating fighting in the city.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin (left) presents a Hero of Labor award to
Marinsky Theater director Valery Gergiev during an awards ceremony in
St. Petersburg, May 1, 2013. Photo: Reuters
Russia has been criticized for backing Assad,
whose jets have apparently bombed several hospitals in Aleppo. Russia
denies it targets civilian infrastructure.
Maestro Gergiev has expressed his support for
Putin, and his concerts abroad sometimes attract small protests. He
publicly backed Putin during his presidential campaign in 2012.
The concert echoes other similar projects by the Ossetian-native Gergiev, who put on a concert
in the damaged streets of Tskhinval, the capital of the separatist
Georgian region of South Ossetia, immediately after the end of a brief
Russian-Georgian war in 2008.
At that concert, Gergiev conducted Dmitry
Shostakovich's 7th Symphony, which was famously performed in Leningrad,
the former name for Saint Petersburg, as the city was under siege from
Nazi forces in the Second World War.
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