Photo: BF
Minister Nikola Selaković recently told members of the Belgrade Philharmonic that the new concert hall is an expensive project. Although President Vučić himself promised several times that the Philharmonic will get the building, the artists are now seriously worried
Location conditions for the building of the Belgrade Philharmonic they expire on April 24, and the building permit has not even been requested yet.
That wouldn't be a cause for concern. employees of the Belgrade Philharmonic, because the location conditions can be extended, if the Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković had not recently stated that the concert hall is an expensive project, which, according to them, can only mean one thing.
Minister's statement
Namely, at the recent meeting of the Union of Music Artists with Minister Selaković, "everything important for our branch was discussed, including the building of the Philharmonic", Igor Ranković, the representative of this orchestra in the Union of Music Artists, told the "Vremena" portal.
They told him that they don't need national stadiums and the Expo, they need theaters and a concert hall.
"The minister commented that the concert hall is an expensive project. After that, it was only possible to conclude that the state is still not ready for the construction of our building," says Igor Ranković.
If this impression turns out to be correct, it will mean that everything that has been done for the concert hall so far has been in vain. And that is not small at all.
What was done
In 2021, at the invitation of the Government of Serbia, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched an international design competition aimed at the world's most famous architectural firms. Out of 37 applications from 15 countries, the team of the project studio Amanda Levit Architects (AL_A) from London won. Both Minister Selaković, Minister of Finance Siniša Mali, and others, boasted about the solution obtained.
"The project was done masterfully, not even the Berlin Philharmonic has such a hall, but it is true that it is expensive," says Ranković.
The eventual future building of the Belgrade Philharmonic already represents a large state investment: the feasibility study cost 527.465 US dollars, and 10 million and 230.000 dollars were set aside for the winning project and the preparation of technical documentation.
First doubts
It was hinted that the government was holding back on the building in January of last year, when President Vučić omitted it from the list of new cultural buildings that will be completed by 2027 by Expo, as part of the "Leap into the Future" project.
And just less than two months before that, the Philharmonic building was one of the assets of his election campaign.
Vučić also boasted about the new concert hall in August 2023, when he presented the plans for the Expo for the first time. And she was in his plans for Christmas that year, that is, just two weeks before it was discovered that there was no Philharmonic in Vučić's "Skok".
Then on TV Pink said that "in this Hall 1 of the Belgrade Fair, which is protected by the state, we have to create the most beautiful possible stage for opera and ballet there, one of the most beautiful possible stages in Europe. Let's build a magnificent concert hall, which will cost over 300 million euros, between SIV and Ušće. And we have to do it all within three years. Over 300 million euros, and then Belgrade will have opera and ballet, then Belgrade will have the best concert hall in this part of Europe".
At the beginning of last year, the Ministry of Public Investments said "that the project can be ready for implementation in 2024, that is, for the tender for construction", stating that the construction permit project is currently being prepared.
Tasovac
Igor Ranković now says that "there is no more Ivan Tasovac who would fight for the Philharmonic. We, the Philharmonic Orchestra, are fighting for survival on our own. We don't have a director who would fight even for basic things, for salary, for instruments, let alone for the building. We don't have a person who would fight for the best musicians to stay in the Philharmonic".
After death of Ivan Tasovac, since November 2021, he is at the head of the Belgrade Philharmonic Darko Kostić as acting director.
Master Zubin Mehta, one of the world's greatest conductors and a lover of the Belgrade Philharmonic, met with Minister Selaković in October of last year and appealed for many times to preserve this orchestra and to build a concert hall. After all, Belgrade has only one concert hall - Kolarčev endowment.
Trombonist Igor Ranković, who has been with the Philharmonic for 29 years, now says that the minister knows all that, that they have better communication with him than with Maja Gojković before him", but there are no results."
These are the reasons why The Belgrade Philharmonic is on a general strike from March 3 until further notice.
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