Russian Orchestra Concert in the Ruins of Palmyra

The ancient ruins of Palmyra, or Tadmur, in Syria, where the Islamic State (ISIS) previously filmed horrific beheadings and forced local youth to watch, hosted a classical music concert this Thursday. The historic city of Palmyra and its several thousand-year-old artifacts, which are considered significant to all humanity and are registered as cultural heritage by UNESCO, were under ISIS control since June 2015 until they were liberated in early April this year. According to Reuters, the orchestra affiliated with the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, performed pieces under the direction of Valery Gergiev at the Palmyra amphitheater on May 5, with Sergey Roldugin, a close friend of the Russian president, playing the cello. For about forty minutes, works by Bach, Prokofiev, and Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin were played by this famous Russian orchestra. One of the aims of this concert was to emphasize Russia's role in liberating this human heritage from ISIS control. The concert, titled 'Prayer for Palmyra,' was dedicated to the memory of Alexander Prokhorenko, a Russian officer killed during the liberation of Palmyra. Russian fighter jets played a significant role in airstrikes that forced ISIS fighters to retreat from the area, allowing government forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad to advance. Following this success, Russian military experts neutralized mines left among the historical artifacts; ISIS had mined the area before retreating. Russia has also announced its readiness to rebuild the destroyed artifacts in Palmyra. Additionally, according to The Guardian, a delegation from the vast Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg visited Syria to see the remaining artifacts alongside the Russian orchestra. Before the concert pieces were performed, a live message from Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, was broadcast to the audience from the port of Sochi, in which he stated that this performance was a tribute to the souls of all victims of 'global terrorism; this horrific devil.' Putin also praised the 'courage of each attendee' as 'the danger still threatens the region in a country at war.' Valery Gergiev, the orchestra's conductor, emphasized that the concert 'Prayer for Palmyra' was a 'protest against the barbarism of ISIS that damaged these remnants of human culture and turned this Roman amphitheater into a slaughterhouse.' Gergiev added that 'the world must be saved from terrorists.' The performance of the Mariinsky Orchestra was simultaneously broadcast on Russian state channels. Among the audience at the concert, held among the ancient ruins of Palmyra, were religious leaders from both Muslim and Christian communities, foreign guests, and several Russian soldiers from active forces in Syria, as well as a few members of the Syrian army. A few local residents, surprisingly informed about the presence of the Russian orchestra, also made their way to the site. Despite this performance, a Syrian tourist guide stated that he does not see a bright outlook for the return of foreign tourists to the area in the near future. The Islamic State destroyed parts of these artifacts during its ten-month control of the area. ISIS destroyed the two-thousand-year-old Temple of Baal, the famous Palmyra citadel, museum artifacts, and ancient tombs, but did not have the opportunity to destroy the amphitheater, Agora, and other sites as ISIS fighters were constantly engaged in fierce battles with the Syrian army. According to The Guardian, after the liberation of Palmyra, global archaeologists confirmed that significant parts of the historical artifacts still remain intact. When ISIS advanced towards Palmyra, Syrian officials managed to transport some portable artifacts to safe locations in the short time they had left. However, after seizing the area, ISIS executed Khaled al-Asaad, an eighty-two-year-old Syrian archaeologist and head of the Palmyra antiquities, by beheading him among the artifacts, partly due to his trip to Iran, and hung his decapitated body on one of the ancient columns. One of the heartbreaking scenes during ISIS's control of Palmyra was the shooting at close range of dozens of Syrian army prisoners by teenage ISIS fighters, a video of which was released by ISIS last November. Valery Gergiev, the conductor of the Russian orchestra who led the performance on Thursday, is a well-known international artist with high capabilities but is also known for his support of Vladimir Putin, and critics say his eagerness to stand by Putin diminishes his artistic level.