The concert of the famous Russian director Pro-Putine Valeri Guerguiev, scheduled for July 27 as part of a festival near Naples in Italy, was canceled, the organizers announced on Monday, July 21.
The festival management “decided to cancel the symphonic concert led by Valeri Guerguiev,” said a statement from the organizers, after many criticisms in Italy and abroad.
The director, also director of the famous Bolchoi Theater in Moscow and personal friend of the Kremlin Chief, would direct a concert as part of the “Un’Estate Da Re” festival (“A Summer of King”) organized in the Palais de Caserte, former Royal Ready of the Naples Burbons with the “Italian Versas Italian”.
Boicoteado by Western Orchestras from the invasion of Ukraine
Valeri Guguriev, director of the famous Bolchoi Theater in Moscow and personal friend of the Kremlin Chief, has been boycotted in the West since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022 for not having denounced the offensive against Kyiv.
The Fighting Corruption Fund (FBK), the organization of opponent Alexei Navalny, died in prison that he had actively campaigned for this cancellation, immediately congratulated telegram: “Hourra! The concert in Italy is canceled.”
“Friends (Russian president Vladimir) Putin should not be on tour in Europe as if nothing had happened,” added the organization.
The FBK had announced on July 11 the sending of letters to the festival and the Italian ministers of culture and inside to request the cancellation of the concert.
“Any attempt to close your eyes (…) is pure hypocrisy”
“Any attempt to close your eyes to what Valeri Guerguiev is when he does not direct and affirm that it is simply a cultural event without political dimension (…) is pure hypocrisy,” wrote Iulia Navalnaïa, Navalny’s widow, in a message last week in the Daily La Repubblica.
The 72 -year -old teacher, a long -standing supporter of the Russian president, had already been boycotted in 2022 by the Western orchestras for not having denounced the offensive against kyiv.
Valeri Guerguiev was appointed at the end of 2023 by the Russian government for the position of director of Bolchoi, in a complete accelerated step in the cultural sector in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. Since 1996, he also directed the prestigious Mariïnski Theater in St. Petersburg, becoming the first man since 1917 to direct the two main scenes of the country.
The proximity of Valeri Guerguiev with the head of the Kremlin, especially during the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, as well as their participation in concerts in the separatist region of the south of Ossétie and in Palmyra with the Syrian army, they have already won controversies.
In March 2022, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Munich (southern Germany) decided to say goodbye because he had not denounced the invasion of Ukraine. Several orchestras and festivals in Europe and the United States had canceled their commitments to the musician.
Source: BFM TV
