Russian conductor Valery Gergiev has been dropped by his management and from upcoming performances in Europe and the US over his failure to denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The friend and long-time supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far issued no statement on the war.Gergiev had been represented by Munich-based manager Marcus Felsner since December 2020.
However, in a statement yesterday, Felsner said: “In the light of the criminal war waged by the Russian regime against the democratic and independent nation of Ukraine, and against the European open society as a whole, it has become impossible for us, and clearly unwelcome, to defend the interests of Maestro Gergiev”.Felsner called Gergiev “the greatest conductor alive and an extraordinary human being with a profound sense of decency” and said that dropping him as a client was “the saddest day of my professional life”.
Nonetheless, he said that he had no choice because Gergiev “will not, or cannot, publicly end his long-expressed support for a regime that has come to commit such crimes”.The move from Felsner came a day before a deadline set by Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala for Gergiev to denounce the invasion if he wants to perform at the city’s La Scala venue later this week.
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