We then heard the very familiar chorus ‘Va, pensiero’ from Verdi’s Nabucco that after the opera’s 1842 premiere we were told by Harder quickly became the ‘unofficial protest anthem of the Italian people’ and mirrored the plight of the Ukrainian refugees Gelb spoke about in that we hear how the Hebrews and slaves in Babylon are longing ‘for their beautiful lost homeland’. It was Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings which provided a certain consolation and solace, despite its overall mood of resignation, loss and mourning. This was music of ‘strength’, stirring and patriotic and given a defiant rendition by Buialskyi and the Met Chorus.Ĭonversely, Valentin Silvestrov’s ‘Prayer for Ukraine’ – an a cappella chorus written in response to the 2014 uprising – brought some of the promised ‘comfort’ with music, wonderfully sung again, that was elegiac and contemplatively melancholic. Bass-baritone Vladyslav Buialskyi has recently made his Met debut and his mother and grandmother were described by Harder as being ‘under siege in Ukraine’ and he sang the Ukraine national anthem that has quickly become the anthem of the anti-Russia (Putin?) coalition. Obviously, the concert was basically criticproof and it would be churlish to review it as a ‘proper’ one but since I have read comments elsewhere, I will just give a few reflections on what I heard. If the occasion wasn’t important enough it was wonderful to hear – I was listening not seeing of course – the 100-strong Met Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by their music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, so united and with the travails of the shutdown of the too recent past seemingly something of a fading memory. We pray for those who have died or suffered injuries for those who stand tall fighting for their country for those struggling to survive in spite of relentless attacks and for those who have lost their homes and for the three million refugees spreading across Europe separated from their loved ones and hoping to soon return to their beloved homelands.’ Gelb continued, ‘Music offers solace for humanity, but it also can be weaponised against oppression. The Met’s general manager Peter Gelb then made a statement: ‘The members of the Metropolitan Opera Company stand in solidarity with the proud Ukrainian people, so strong and courageous in the face of such injustice, destruction and death. The façade of the Lincoln Center, we were told, was draped in an enormous blue and yellow Ukrainian flag, whilst hanging above the proscenium was another flag specially constructed by the Met and all the performers were wearing blue and yellow ribbons pinned to their concert attire. Introduced by Met radio host, Deborah Lew Harder, we learnt that for this A Concert for Ukraine with ‘Music of comfort, strength and hope’ listeners were being joined live by the Ukrainian Public Broadcasting Company and all proceeds were going to support relief efforts in Ukraine. Strauss – Four Last Songs (Lise Davidsen, soprano): ‘Frühling’ (‘Spring’) ‘September’ ‘Beim Schlafengehen’ (‘When Falling Asleep’) ‘Im Abendrot’ (‘At Sunset’)īeethoven – Finale from Symphony No.9, Op.125 (Elza van den Heever, Jamie Barton, Piotr Beczała and Ryan Speedo Green ) Valentin Silvestrov – ‘Prayer for Ukraine’ Mykhailo Verbytsky – National Anthem of Ukraine (Vladyslav Buialskyi, bass-baritone)

Broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera House on and available here through.

United States Various, A Concert for Ukraine: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera / Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor).

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