Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893). His works include six symphonies and three piano concertos, only two of which are finished, a violin concerto and eleven operas. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The Eurovision Song Contest says Russia can not compete. Here Ukrainian singer Jamala, who won the event in 2016 and who fled the war in her country, performs her winning song, '1944', in Berlin.
The Royal Opera House in London has cancelled performances by the Bolshoi Ballet. Getty Images
World-famous conductor Valery Gergiev lost three key roles in 24 hours after he refused to condemn Vladimir Putin’s attacks on Ukraine. AFP
The Venice Biennale will not feature a Russian pavilion. Getty Images
Several film studios have delayed the release of their movies in Russia, including Warner Bros' 'The Batman'. Photo: Warner Bros Pictures
The Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra on Thursday came under fire for its decision to remove works by Russian composer Tchaikovsky from its programme of concerts amid the war in Ukraine.
The CPO had said it would be "inappropriate at this time" for Russia's putative greatest composer to feature "in light of the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine" but the cancellation has sparked a widespread censure.
Fay Jones, the Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, tweeted:
Conductor and composer Debbie Wiseman struck a more conciliatory tone in a BBC interview, although still made her opposition to the decision clear.
"I can understand on one hand why the members of the Cardiff Philharmonic would feel uncomfortable and it's inappropriate to play this music but it's very hard when you start targeting historical figures like Tchaikovsky or Russian composers," she said.
Tchaikovsky adored Ukraine
John Suchet, Classic FM presenter
"You can't tar everyone with the same brush. For me personally I think it's very hard to find a standpoint. You don't want to bring every Russian into the argument for the sins of their leader. I would personally try not to bring historical elements into what is today's war."
Ms Wiseman is the composer in residence on the UK commercial radio station Classic FM, and one of its presenters, John Suchet, pointed out one of the ironies of the cancellation.
"Tchaikovsky adored Ukraine," said Mr Suchet, who has also written a biography of the Swan Lake composer.
"He frequently stayed on his sister's estate there, and at the estate of his patron Nadezhda von Meck. He would be weeping at what is happening. Not just a useless gesture, but wrong."
British comedian Mark Steel took a more humorous approach to lampoon the move.
The opprobrium is unlikely to lead to the temporary ban being lifted.
Cardiff Philharmonic director Martin May released a statement explaining the stance – which relates specifically to the militaristic 1812 Overture and the 'Little Russian' of Symphony No 2 – although he acknowledged its controversy.
"A member of the orchestra has family directly involved in the Ukraine situation and we are trying to respect that situation during the immediate term," he said.
"While there are no plans to repeat the Tchaikovsky concert at the moment, we have no plans to change our summer and autumn programmes which contain pieces by Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Rimsky-Korsakov.
"So this is a one-off decision made with the best of intentions and there is no intention to exclude Tchaikovsky in particular. He is one of my favourite composers. We are aware that, whatever decision we made it would not go down well, so we are stuck between a rock and a hard place."
Munich mayor Dieter Reiter said the decision was made after Gergiev, who had been the chief conductor since the 2015-16 season, did not respond to his calls to rethink and revise his very positive assessment of the Russian leader.
Gergiev's resignation as honorary president of the Edinburgh International Festival was "asked for and accepted" by the event's board of trustees last month.
A statement on the festival's website said: "Edinburgh is twinned with the city of Kyiv and this action is being taken in sympathy with, and support of, its citizens."
Gergiev has also been dropped from the Vienna Philharmonic's five-concert US tour and his management company said on Sunday it will no longer represent him.
The Rotterdam Philharmonic in the Netherlands also cut ties with Gergiev. It said "an unbridgeable divide" between the orchestra and conductor on the issue of the Russian invasion became clear after speaking to him.
Soprano Anna Netrebko withdrew from her future engagements at the Metropolitan Opera rather than repudiate her support for Mr Putin, costing the company one of its top singers and best box-office draws.
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Teams
India (playing XI): Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
South Africa (squad): Faf du Plessis (c), Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
