Reuters
Organisers of a music festival in Italy have cancelled a concert featuring Russian conductor Valery Gergiev after days of criticism from Kremlin critics and human rights activists.
Gergiev, an ally of President Putin, was due to conduct the Italian orchestra and soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre from St Petersburg in a performance at a former royal palace near Naples later this month.
The 72-year-old musician was banned from performing on Western stages after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which he refused to condemn.
Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giulia said the organisers’ cancellation of the Un’Estate da RE festival was “common sense” and defended “the values of the free world”.
The Royal Palace of Caserta has not given an official reason for the cancellation of the July 27 concert, which was to take place as part of a wider musical programme.
On Sunday, Ukraine called on organisers to cancel Gergiev’s performance, calling him a “mouthpiece of Putin” who should not be welcomed anywhere “as long as Russian troops continue to commit atrocities”.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, welcomed the cancellation, calling it “good news” in a post on X.
“No artist who supports the current dictatorship in Russia should be popular in Europe,” she said.
However, Moscow’s ambassador to Italy said the decision was a “scandalous situation” and part of a “policy of ‘cancelling’ Russian culture.”
Gergiev, director of Russia’s Bolshoi and Mariinsky state theatres, regularly performed at leading Western venues before the invasion of Ukraine.
Institutions such as Milan’s La Scala, the Munich Philharmonic and New York’s Carnegie Hall subsequently severed ties with him.
Reuters
The controversy surrounding Gergiev’s performance came last week as Italy hosted heads of state from across Europe to reaffirm its support for Ukraine and discuss how to rebuild the country after the war.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been a strong and consistent critic of Vladimir Putin from the start. However, her Ministry of Culture was one of the sponsors of the Un’Estate da RE festival.
Source: bbc.com