Artists without Borders

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That is how the Edinburgh International Festival billed their selection of works this year: "Artists without borders. Festival 08 reflects on an evolving Europe"

They didn't know how significant this title would be back in March and yet, Valery Gergiev, who grew up in Vladikavkaz North Ossetia, conducted a performance of Prokofiev's Semyon Kotko Act 3 last night - the story of a Ukranian town in 1918 under German occupation where the brutality of war is on display. Valery Gergiev is conducting a differnt concert tonight at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre with the Mariinsky Opera and Orchestra. Valery Gerfiev is the same conductor I spoke about in my post on the Music of Politics. Tonights concert is Rodion Shchedrin's opera The Enchanted Wanderer. You can find a synopsis here.

For more insight into Gergiev's view of the events in South Ossetia click here.

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