Become a Member
Stephen Pollard

ByStephen Pollard, Stephen Pollard

Opinion

Tough, for us and them

April 11, 2008 24:00
1 min read

I have mixed reactions to this. The Barbican has been forced to cancel a concert by the Russian pianist Grigory Sokolov because of changes to visa regulations requiring non-EU citizens to provide fingerprints. \ \


Sokolov, 57, was due to perform a programme of Mozart sonatas and Chopin on 10 May at the London concert hall, followed by an appearance at Glasgow's City Hall. But the pianist will no longer travel to the UK, where he has been performing regularly for the past 18 years, because he is unwilling to disrupt his schedule to apply in person for the new biometric visa.
Sokolov is a wondrous pianist and I had tickets for that now cancelled concert. And if his unwillingness to travel to the UK is the first of other such decisions by great artists, I will be despondent.

However, these comments made me see red: The Barbican is concerned that the changes to the visa system could deter other artists from travelling to perform in the UK.