(Berlin) The mayor of Munich on Friday summoned Valeri Guerguiev, reputed to be close to Vladimir Putin and who conducts the philharmonic orchestra of the German city, to distance himself from the Russian invasion of Ukraine if he wants to keep his job.
Posted at 1:45 p.m.
“I have asked Valeri Guergiev to distance himself clearly and categorically from the brutal war waged by Putin against Ukraine and now also against our partner city Kiev […] “Said the mayor of the Bavarian city Dieter Reiter in a press release.
If he “has not positioned himself clearly by Monday, he will not be able to remain conductor of the Philharmonic”, he warns.
Valeri Guerguiev has been conducting this orchestra since 2015.
The famous Russian chef has already been dismissed at the last minute from a series of performances this weekend at Carnegie Hall, the prestigious hall in New York.
“This change is due to recent events in the world,” a Carnegie Hall spokeswoman told AFP on Thursday, although no reason was given in the official statement.
La Scala in Milan also urged him to publicly plead for a “peaceful solution” to the conflict, threatening to part ways with him for two upcoming performances of The Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky, scheduled between March 5 and 13.
Director General of the prestigious Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg, Valeri Guerguiev, 68, is one of the most sought-after conductors in the world.
The interested party has not yet spoken on the current events.
His closeness to Putin, whom he has known since 1992, and his loyalty to the Russian president on the annexation of Crimea, as well as his participation in concerts in bombarded South Ossetia and Palmyra in Syria in 2016 have earned him many controversies. this last decade.