Musicians fleeing from Russia find a new audience in Georgia
Tbilisi, 30 january (Reuters) – Alexey Antropov until September in Moscow Russia He played double bass in the orchestra of the Philharmonic.
However the president Vladimir Putin When Russia ordered its first mobilization since World War II to bolster its stalled invasion of Ukraine, the 29-year-old fled to neighboring Georgia, where she now works as a hotel receptionist.
The classical musician is one of hundreds of thousands of Russians, many of them young, who fled the country to avoid the risk of being drafted into a war that some disagree with.
Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, was a famous place because of its land way can go with, entry-exit rules are relatively weak and Russia has close cultural ties with
Antropov embarks on a new life abroad, first living in a cheap hostel on the outskirts of Tbilisi, then moving into an apartment with friends and doing a modest job.
He is also keeping his passion alive and has assembled a small group of classical musicians who are Russian like himself to perform in Tbilisi and possibly Yerevan, the capital of neighboring Armenia.
Antropov told Reuters: “I don’t have an orchestra now. “That’s why I build myself.”
For the first training session in late December, held in the rented basement of a building in central Tbilisi, he bought a pile of cheap plastic stools for the players to sit on.
Even Antropov political even if the leadership changes, he does not intend to return to Russia in the near future.
“The next Russian Putin it can be even scarier than the current Putin,” he said while sitting in a Georgian cafe serving local cuisine.
Recalling his visit to Georgia, he said that it took three days to cross the border in Verkhni Lars because the queues of people evacuating Russia were too long.
“Us village on their way the police employees a bribe they took him to the border, then to the mountain 10 We walked more than km,” he said with a sarcastic smile.
He hopes to buy property in Tbilisi one day.
“I need a home – a place I can go back to. And I hope that Tbilisi will become such a home for me. It’s a beautiful city.”
‘BIG LOSS’
Grigory Dobrin is the drummer of the Russian band SBPCh (Russian initials for “The Largest Prime Number”).
After Moscow launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine on February 24, he left for Georgia, taking only a suitcase full of things and two hats he wore to concerts.
Although SBPCh continues to perform in a slimmed-down version, Dobrin spends most of his time at Practica, a rehearsal space in Tbilisi that organizers envisioned as a meeting place for musicians from Georgia and abroad.
Jam sessions are held every two weeks, and Dobrin also teaches drums.
“I do not consider teaching to be a backward step for me. Teaching and playing in a band are just different things, they cannot be compared.”
“(But) to be honest, I really miss concerts and gigs. It’s a big loss for me.”
Russian singer and guitarist Anastasiya Ivanova, known by the stage name Grechka (“Rose”), is able to continue touring, but has not been able to perform in Russia since leaving last spring, saying she was on a “blacklist” for her opposition. to the war.
A 22-year-old girl living in Tbilisi told Reuters that she performed in Ukraine in 2014 after the illegal annexation of the Black Sea Crimea peninsula by Moscow.
“Ukrainian audience welcomed me very kindly,” Ivanova said. “So Russia “When TV says that Ukrainians hate Russians, I know it’s bullshit.”
Written by Mike Collett-White, edited by Alexandra Hudson
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Maxim Shemetov
2023-01-30 13:37:40
Source – reuters
Translation“24 HOURS”