The return to Europe of the Russian conductor Valery Gergiev could have been done discreetly. Invited by the Un’estate Da Re festival (“a summer of king”), near Naples, in Campania (Italy), he was to direct, on July 27, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Verdi de Salerne Theater and the Solists of the Mariinski de Saint-Petersburg. It was to count without the obstinacy of the vice-president of the European Parliament, the Italian Pina Pincano, Russian opponents and Ukrainian associations.
The announcement came from the management of the Royal Caser Palace, which hosts the festival, Monday, July 21: The concert of the Russian maestro, 72, close to Vladimir Putin and considered as a vector of cultural propaganda of the Kremlin, will not take place.
A deprogramming which is reminiscent of February 24, 2022, the day of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, when one of the most demanded conductor in the world was summoned to condemn the actions of the Kremlin. For refusing to do so, he was declared persona non grata on American soil and banished from European scenes.
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