After President Obama's opening to Cuba, it was quite natural for the media to ask supporters of the Cuban government their opinion on Washington's new policy.
Claudio Abbado, a Castro fan, spoke about this in an interview with Italian daily "La Stampa":
«I think certain aspects of their system are admirable and that many critics don't know the facts. In Cuba, for example, the educational system is admirable, a model for all. But nobody says this. Do you know that medicine is one of Cuba's biggest exports? And many go to Africa, free of charge. But no one writes about this».
But there's a flip side of the coin, the human rights violations, the gulags...
«Ma dove? Quali? But where? What?».
Now say what you want about Claudione's politics -- personally Opera Chic doesn't care one bit, really, what musicians think about stuff, and for the record her views on the Cuba matter are that despite Castro's obviously inexcusable policies the US embargo is even worse than silly, it's ineffective, and she fully supports President Obama's very welcome policy change, and then some -- but Maestro Abbado at least didn't stop in the middle of a concert to express his views (views that by the way seem to go against the grain of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, among others -- not simply against those of the Wall Street Journal's editorial board) between movements of a Mahler symphony.
Claudione understands that the podium is not a bully pulpit; he certainly has more brains -- and better manners.