BEIRUT: French classical group Trio Wanderer canceled its Sunday evening concert in Lebanon’s Baalbek International Festival, a day after activists lambasted it for playing in Israel last year.
A source at the festival confirmed to AFP on Saturday that Trio Wanderer would no longer be playing, but denied that it was because of political pressure.
“The concert was canceled because of personal reasons pertaining to Vincent Coq,” the group’s pianist, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Trio Wanderer was not immediately available for comment.
The celebrated festival is one of the most popular cultural events and is held in Baalbek’s spectacular Roman ruins, drawing large crowds.
Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, an avid enemy of Israel, has a strong presence in the modern city by the same name.
On Saturday, the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel in Lebanon (CBSIL) published a letter addressed to the French trio on its website.
It said Trio Wanderer’s 2016 concert in the southern Israeli port city of Eilat “insulted the martyrs of Lebanon and of Baalbek.”
“We demand that you follow the example of hundreds of musicians and international artists that have declared their support for the cultural boycott of the apartheid state,” the letter read.
A boycott campaign over Israel’s five-decade occupation of Palestinian territory has been under way for years, spearheaded by the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement.
Earlier this year, Lebanon banned the screening of Hollywood blockbuster “Wonder Woman” because lead actress Gal Gadot had served in the Israeli military.
Lebanon and Israel are still technically in a state of war, and the Arab League maintains a Damascus-based office responsible for coordinating a regional boycott of the Jewish state.
Other performers at Baalbek this year include Franco-Lebanese star trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf and American rock band Toto.
France’s Trio Wanderer cancels Lebanon concert
France’s Trio Wanderer cancels Lebanon concert
Trunk snapped off famed Bernini statue in Rome square
ROME, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A marble elephant designed by Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini has been damaged, with its left tusk found snapped off and lying at the base of the monument in the heart of Rome, authorities said.
The damage was uncovered on Monday night and police said they would review video footage from Piazza della Minerva to determine whether the tusk was vandalised or simply fell off following weeks of unusually heavy rains.
Italy's Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli made clear he thought it was deliberate, saying the 17th statue, which supports an ancient Egyptian obelisk, was victim of an "absurd act of barbarity".
"It is unacceptable that once again the nation's artistic and cultural heritage must suffer such serious damage," he said in a statement.
It is not the first time the sculpture, popularly known as the Elefantino (little elephant), has been damaged.
In November 2016, the tip of the same tusk was similarly found broken off. The piece was reattached during restoration work.
The sculpture, created in 1667 by Ercole Ferrata based on a design by Bernini, stands a short distance from the Pantheon, one of most visited tourist sites in Rome. (Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Crispian Balmer)
