After his meeting with Jean-Noël Barrot, Volodymyr Zelensky thanks Paris for his “support from the first days” of war

The conductor, also director of the famous Bolchoi theater in Moscow and personal friend of Vladimir Putin, was to lead a concert as part of the Festival a summer of King organized at the Palais de Caserte, former royal residence of the Bourbons de Naples.

From the first hours of the entry of the Russian troops into Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, Valery Gergiev, one of the most demanded conductors in the world, had been summoned to take a stand against the actions of the Kremlin under penalty of being blacklisted by musical institutions. Declared persona non grata on American soil, the maestro had, for having kept silent, was banished from the European scenes, starting with the Scala of Milan, which had deprogrammed it, the day after the first, on February 23, of the series of representations of The lady of spadesde Tchaïkovski.

“It is unacceptable that European funds are used to finance the performance of a Kremlin supporter”had been carried away, on July 5, on the social network X, the Italian Pina Pincano, vice-president of the European Parliament, causing a reaction of the spokesperson of the European Commission, who called for the responsibility of the member states.

If the arrival of Valery Gergiev in Italy made waves, his presence announced for the beginning of 2026 in Spain went more unnoticed. Invited with his musicians from the Mariinski Theater as part of the 42^e Edition of the Temporada, he had to direct in Barcelona and in several other cities in Spain.