After being summoned by La Scala in Milan to clarify its position on the invasion of Ukraine, thehe Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, reputed to be close to Vladimir Putin, has been excluded from a series of performances this weekend at Carnegie Hall.
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The prestigious Scala in Milan had already asked, Thursday, February 24, the Russian conductor Valery Gergiev to publicly plead for a “peaceful solution” to the Ukrainian conflict. She was threatening to part ways with him for two shows scheduled between March 5 and March 13. For Carnegie Hall, it’s done: the conductor has been removed from a series of performances this weekend, the New York hall announced on Thursday.
General director of the famous Mariinsky theater in Saint Petersburg, Valery Gergiev, 68, is one of the most sought-after conductors in the world. 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 in Palmyra alongside the Syrian army, have been the subject of much controversy over the past decade.
His replacement at short notice by the musical director of the Met Opera in New York, Yannick Nézet-Seguin, was announced jointly by Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, which Gergiev was to conduct for three concerts from February 25. . “This change is due to recent events in the world”, a Carnegie Hall spokeswoman told AFP, although no reason is given in the official press release.
A call to protest in front of the concert hall on Manhattan’s 7th Avenue, inaugurated in 1891 and where the greatest musicians, from George Gershwin to Miles Davis, have passed, had been launched on Facebook. Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra also specify that pianist Denis Matsuev, also a supporter of Vladimir Putin, will be absent on Friday February 25 when he was to perform.