Putin's favourite conductor to lead orchestra in Italy as it breaks ban on pro-Kremlin artists

Telegraph

13-07-2025

A Russian conductor and friend of Vladimir Putin is set to perform in Europe for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine.
Valery Gergiev, 72, will conduct the Giuseppe Verdi Philharmonic Orchestra of Salerno alongside soloists from the Mariinsky Theatre of St Petersburg in a performance at the Un'Estate da RE festival in the southern Italian city of Caserta.
The decision to host the man known as 'Putin's favourite conductor' comes as Italy breaks its ban on pro-Kremlin artists. It has provoked fury among activists and Western officials because of his close relationship to the Russian leader.
The conductor was fired as director of the Munich Philharmonic and dismissed from a number of major festivals and concerts in Europe after he failed to condemn Putin's invasion in February 2022.
At the time, Mr Gergiev was in Milan conducting The Queen of Spades, and refused to speak out against the war when asked to by the city's mayor. He was promptly dropped from the line-up.
Afterwards, he returned to Russia where he became the first person to hold the directorships of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Bolshoi Theatre concurrently.
Mr Gergiev took over the Bolshoi from Vladimir Urin, who left the role after he signed a petition by cultural leaders calling for an end to the Ukraine war.
Since 2022, Mr Gergiev's touring has mainly been limited to Russia and China, such is the Western effort to reject Russia on the world stage. Last month, Canada formally barred Mr Gergiev from entry and declared it would freeze any of his assets.
But in an apparent cultural detente, this month, he will perform at the festival in Italy's Campania region.
Vincenzo de Luca, the president of Campania, defended the decision to allow Mr Gergiev to perform, saying he was 'proud' to welcome him and arguing 'culture and art are one of the only cases when dialogue between people can develop'.
Alfredo Antoniozzi, a senior MP from Georgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, has described Mr Gergiev as 'simply a great artist'.
'If Russians have to pay for the mistakes of their president, then we are committing a kind of cultural genocide,' he argued.
But the decision has sparked a major backlash.
Pina Picierno, vice-president of the European Parliament, wrote on X: 'Even after three and a half years of war, some still fail to grasp that supporting Putin's regime, even through cultural initiatives like this, serves to legitimise his abhorrent imperialism.'
She said the event should be cancelled to prevent 'taxpayers' money ending up in the pockets of a supporter of a criminal regime'.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of murdered Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, condemned the decision to welcome Mr Gergiev back to Europe, releasing a video describing him as a 'maestro of propaganda'.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation, founded by the late Mr Navalny, alleged in a previous investigation that the conductor received 'billions from Russian state funds and oligarchs' and that he owns extravagant properties in eight Italian cities, including a palazzo, a golf estate and an amusement park.
The activists argued that was Mr Gergiev's reward for his public loyalty to Putin.
Mr Gergiev has known Putin since the early 1990s, campaigned for his election in 2012 and appeared in political advertisements for him.
The two are thought to be close, with Mr Gergiev receiving personal congratulations from the Kremlin chief on his birthday along with uncharacteristically effusive tributes describing him as an 'inexhaustible inspiration'.
In 2014, Mr Gergiev was one of a host of Russian arts and cultural figures who signed an open letter in support of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea.
But his inclusion on the bill at Un'Estate da RE is significant, and could be part of a wider acceptance of Russian cultural figures back onto the world stage.
Earlier this year, Russian propagandists rejoiced when Anora, a film about a sex worker who impulsively marries the spoilt son of a Russian oligarch, swept the Oscars and scored a nomination for Moscow's own Yura Borisov.
In 2023, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club lifted its ban on Russian and Belarusian players competing at Wimbledon. This year, Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka and Andrey Rublev played at the tournament.
In 2024, Austria's prestigious Salzburg Festival provoked criticism for allowing Greek-born conductor Teodor Currentzis, who received Russian citizenship in 2014, to lead concerts despite his proximity to the Russian regime.