Kharkiv’s opera house and neighboring Philharmonic have been shelled. The opera house in Odessa is behind sandbags.
Of course, these are centers of leisure. They are not residences or hospitals or schools or marketplaces. Their loss may seem insignificant beside atrocity, misery, and mounting loss of life.
But as centers of culture, they are also powerful symbols, as culture is the very opposite of war. It implies cultivation, provides inspiration, and celebrates aspiration. It embodies the highest ideals, the very apex of what separates civilization from barbarity. When the opera houses are going full-steam, the only strife is on-stage. Okay, and maybe a little backstage.
But a strike on “Freedom” Square? Seriously? The next thing you’re going to tell me is that they’ve shelled Babi Yar.
Oh, wait a minute…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/01/ukraine-russia-babyn-yar/
What would Shostakovich think?
TOP: Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (left, during World War II; right, today)
BOTTOM: Kharkiv State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
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