The Odessa Classics summer festival was one of the most popular in Ukraine. This year, the festival has been another victim of the Russian invasion but has found new life across Europe.
Odessa Classics has had to relocate from its home venue due to the Russian invasionImage: Odessa Classics
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Odesa, the city dubbed the pearl on the Black Sea, has been an important cultural capital for centuries.
In addition to the city's grand, neo-baroque National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet and its renowned philharmonic orchestra, Odesa's famed musical heritage has produced virtuoso pianist Svyatoslav Richter and violinists David Oistrakh and Natan Milstein.
This summer, numerous artists from all over the world had planned to make the pilgrimage to the Ukrainian city for the Odessa Classics summer festival. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced the festival to move to venues in Tallinn, Estonia and Thessaloniki, Greece during May and June.
'Hope for Peace'
For star violinist and artist-in-residence Daniel Hope, the show must go on. As president of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, he co-initiated the project "Hope for Peace," a series of seven benefit concerts that will take place at Beethoven-Haus from July 5 to August 23.
"For many years I have played at the wonderful music festival Odessa Classics, a place that symbolizes the connection between Europe and Asia," he said of the festival's importance. Hope's mentor, the violonist Zakhar Bron, was also trained in Odesa.
Internationally renowned artists who have already performed in Odesa or were scheduled to perform this summer will perform in Bonn, include violinists Michael Barenboim and Pinchas Zukerman, and baritone Thomas Hampson. Daniel Hope will also perform alongside upcoming Ukrainian musicians.
Impressions from the Odessa Classics Festival in 2019Image: Odessa Classics
Festival a response to the Crimea annexation
The concert series was also conceived by Ukrainian star pianist Alexey Botvinov, the founder and artistic director of the Odessa Classics festival.
"I believe that the concert series in Bonn is not only a great symbol of solidarity with Ukraine, but also a highly exciting and multifaceted cultural project," he told DW.
Underlying the importance of the event during the current Russian invasion, he recalls how the festival was founded in response to Russia's 2014 takeover of Crimea, located close to Odesa on the Black Sea.
"We established Odessa Classics as a European festival for a European city, which was and remains our Odesa," Botvinov told DW. "This was our response to the Crimean annexation in 2014."
Botvinov, regarded as among the best interpreters of composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, has now left Ukraine with his family.
"Like many Ukrainian musicians, I was forced to leave my homeland because of the terrible Russian aggression against my country," he said. "I try to do as much as I can as an artist and use every concert opportunity to raise public awareness about the injustice that is currently happening to Ukraine."
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Ukrainian artists as guests of Beethoven
The director of the Beethoven House and Archive, Malte Boecker, is another co-initiator of the Odessa Classics benefit concert series in Bonn.
"We understand the symbolic significance it has as a cultural city in Ukraine," Boecker said of Odesa.
"We can make it clear that one dimension of this conflict is also cultural understanding," he added. "If an entire festival is silenced there, we have a responsibility to show the artists a perspective."
In addition to the emergency aid program already launched at the beginning of March as part of the Hope for Peace project, Beethoven-Haus is providing housing for refugees.
"In this way, we want to enable the refugee artists to continue working artistically or academically in Bonn and to realize projects that build cultural bridges," said Boecker.
German violinist Daniel Hope and Ukrainian pianist Alexey Botvinov are initiators of the 'Hope in Peace' eventImage: Vdovenko Nikolay/Odessa Classics
'Part of this resistance'
Among the fellows is Anastasia Verveiko, a young theater director from Luhansk who fled Kyiv.
"These extremely difficult times are shaping the identity of Ukraine," said the 25-year-old. "We are proud to be a part of this resistance," adding that Ukrainians have also defended Europe and their "common values."
"The possibility to continue living and developing our culture, also here, in Bonn, thanks to the Beethovenhaus, is a part of this struggle," she added.
Pianist Alexey Botvinov has also taken up quarters in the Beethovenhaus.
"We hope so much that one day we will meet again in beautiful Odesa," Botvinov told DW. "Unfortunately, it will not be possible again so soon. Now our task is to preserve our culture in another place."
Ukrainian refugees: A new life in Germany
DW has spoken to several women who fled the war, some of them without even knowing where they would find shelter. They talk about feeling homesick and being grateful for the support they have received.
Image: DW
'I want to go home'
Olexandra fled Kyiv on March 23. Today, she lives in Bergisch Gladbach, a city in western Germany. "I want to go home, but it's not yet possible," she tells DW. "Sometimes, I want to drop everything and return to Kyiv, even though bombs are falling on the city." She says it is tough living in a foreign country. But "we must save as many lives as possible so we can rebuild Ukraine."
Image: DW
'God, please let me survive to see another day'
"I made my decision to leave on March 15; a nearby subway station was hit, leaving my walls shaking, which woke me up," recalls Olexandra. "On March 23, I boarded a train to stay with a friend in Lviv, but three days later, the city was also bombed, forcing us to shelter in the cellar." She remembers thinking: "God, please let me survive to see another day." Soon after, Olexandra fled to Germany.
Image: DW
Hiding in an underground car park
Olexandra spent the first days of the war hiding in a car park. She remembers how "on the third day, we started running out of food, at some stage I grew so weak I could not even tie my hair." The shelter, she says, "had a toilet and washbasin we could use to clean dishes; but we did not have shower."
Image: Privat
'I was shocked'
Olena fled the Kyiv region with her children on March 10. She now lives in Cologne, western Germany. "I'm from the Donetsk area, Avdiivka is my hometown," the woman tells DW. "Back in 2014 and 2015, we were under attack for eight months. And then came February 24, 2022. My God, I did not think war would break out again, I was shocked."
Image: DW
Getting to safety
Olena spent the first two weeks of the war near Kyiv. "There were no Russian soldiers in the village itself, but they were in nearby Bucha, Makariv and Borodyanka — these places took heavy fire," she recalls. "I decided to pack my things and flee; staying would have meant putting my own life and safety, and that of my kids, at risk."
Image: DW
'I want my children to grow up in peace'
Olena feels fortunate to be in Germany. "I have never been here before, but it was the only country I ever wanted to go to; I got help finding an apartment, I feel well and safe." She says she wants to stay in Germany. "My children are attending school, learning German; I’m learning the language as well," she tells DW. "Twice, we had to flee a war zone; I want my children to grow up in peace."
Image: DW
Frightened to death
Tatiana left Kharkiv on March 5. She is now based in Bonn, western Germany. She and her daughter endured three weeks of Russian shelling before fleeing. "My 10-year-old daughter was frightened, crying constantly, asking 'Mom, am I going to die now?' It was scary fleeing the country, but I could no longer bear seeing my daughter in this fearful state."
Image: DW
Tatiana's daughter in a Kharkiv air raid shelter
Tatiana remembers their escape from Kharkiv: "After five days, we reached Lviv. From there we traveled onwards to Poland; the border guards were friendly, telling us over and over we had reached safety." They helped them carry their bags, as she recalls, and handed out toys to refugee children. "They gave us hot meals and everything we needed."
Image: privat
'My heart is in Kharkiv'
Tatiana is grateful for the help she has received from Germany and other European states. "I'm in safety, but my heart is in Kharkiv, with my family and friends," she tells DW. "Every evening I read the news about bombings, people killed and wounded, and each morning I call my family and friends, hoping they are okay."
Image: DW
Staying with German friends
Inna is from Odesa. She and her friend Xenia fled Ukraine to stay with friends in Germany, who offered to put them up. The women's children are able to keep studying because their Ukrainian schools offer remote classes. The mothers are thankful for all the support they have received.
Image: DW
'We don't know what will come next'
Inna and Xenia say they face an uncertain future. "We don't know what will come next," one of them tells DW. Adding that "we know that our country will have to be rebuilt, and it's clear there will be no jobs because the economy has taken a hit. Every Ukrainian knows that. The worst thing is that nobody knows how long all this will take, and what we are supposed to do."
Image: DW
Yearning for their home city
Inna (pictured) wants to return to Odesa. Xenia does, too. She says they are merely guests in Germany. "My husband does not want me returning," Xenia tells DW. "Several times, I have been very close to heading back, despite the fighting." She says she never wanted to leave her city. "I would feel totally different with my husband by my side, he is in Odesa patrolling the streets."
