Concert by Putin ally Valery Gergiev is canceled in Italy

The organizers of a music festival in Italy have canceled a concert with the participation of Russian conductor Valery Gergiev after days of criticism by the Kremlin critics and human rights campaigns.

Gergiev, an ally of President Putin, had to lead an Italian orchestra and soloists from the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg performed at a former royal palace near Naples later this month.

The 72 -year -old was banned from the Western stages after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which he refused to condemn.

Italian Minister of Culture Alessandro Julie said the cancellation of the organizers of the Un’ESstate Da Re is “common sense” and protect “the values of the free world”.

The Royal Palace of the Caserta did not give a formal reason for the cancellation of the concert on July 27, which was placed as part of the wider music program.

Ukraine on Sunday called on the organizers to refuse Gergiev’s performance, calling it “Putin’s mouthpiece”, which should not be met anywhere, as long as the Russian forces continue to carry out atrocities. “

Yulia navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, welcomes the cancellation, describing it as “good news”, in the publication of X.

“No artist who supports the current dictatorship in Russia should be welcomed in Europe,” she said.

But Moscow’s ambassador to Italy said the decision was a “scandalous situation” and part of a “policy for” cancellation “of Russian culture.

Gergiev, director of the Russian state theaters of Bolshoi and Mariinski, regularly played in the leading western places before the invasion of Ukraine.

Institutions, including the Milan La Scala, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Carnegie Hall in New York, later torn their ties with him.

Gergiev’s appearance displayed last week when Italy hosted state heads across Europe to confirm its support for Ukraine and to discuss how to restore the country after the war was over.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been a strong and consistent critic of Vladimir Putin from the beginning. But her Ministry of Culture was one of the supporters of the Un’ESstate Da Re.