Latest news with #CulturalBan
The Guardian
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Navalny's widow leads calls for Italy to cancel concert by pro-Putin conductor
The widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is leading calls for Italy to scrap the performance of a Russian orchestra conductor with close ties to Vladimir Putin at a music festival in southern Italy. Valery Gergiev, who has been a close ally of Putin since the early 1990s, will perform in Europe for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine after being invited to the Un'Estate da Re festival in La Reggia di Caserta, a former Bourbon palace and Unesco world heritage site, in Campania on 27 July. Italy broke a Europe-wide ban on pro-Kremlin artists after the invitation was endorsed by Vincenzo De Luca, the leftwing president of the Campania region. De Luca said culture 'must not be influenced by politics and political logic'. Writing in La Repubblica on Tuesday, Yulia Navalnaya, whose husband died in an Arctic prison last year, said Gergiev's performance at the festival – a highlight of the summer season in southern Italy – would be 'a gift to the dictator'. Gergiev, widely seen as one of Russia's most powerful cultural figures, was fired from several European concerts, festivals and theatres, including Milan's prestigious La Scala, for refusing to condemn Putin over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The last time Gergiev performed in Italy was at La Scala on 23 February 2022, hours after the invasion began. Navalnaya wrote that Gergiev was not only a 'dear friend' and 'supporter' of Putin but also a 'promoter' of the Russian president's 'criminal policies'. 'The terrible and devastating war in Ukraine continues, people are dying every day, and Ukrainian cities are burning,' she said. 'How is it possible that in the summer of 2025, three years after the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Valery Gergiev, Putin's accomplice and a person included on the sanctions lists of several countries, was suddenly invited to Italy to participate in a festival?' Gergiev, 72, has repeatedly voiced support for Putin – appearing in a 2012 campaign ad, endorsing the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and conducting a patriotic concert in Syria's ancient city of Palmyra in 2016, after Russian forces helped the former Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad recapture it. Ruslan Shaveddinov, a longtime aide to the Navalny family, told the Guardian that Gergiev's performance in Europe 'would serve to normalise Putin's regime in the eyes of the civilised world'. 'We've used every tool at our disposal to try to stop him from taking part in the event in Italy, because giving a platform to one of the Kremlin's propagandists at such a prestigious European festival would be a huge gift to Moscow,' Shaveddinov said. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion 'That's why we are campaigning to cancel Valery Gergiev's concert in Europe – and pushing for sanctions against him and other high-profile figures who, despite their talent and international recognition, have chosen to act as propagandists at a time when Vladimir Putin and his war align them with war criminals.' Gergiev's US agent has been approached for comment.
Telegraph
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Putin's favourite conductor to lead orchestra in Italy as it breaks ban on pro-Kremlin artists
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.
