(Berlin) Pressure is increasing on Russian artists, on the sixth day of the war in Ukraine, to distance themselves from President Vladimir Putin, under penalty of being personae non scratched on Western stages.
Updated yesterday at 8:28
The world of classical music was thus shaken on Tuesday by the dismissal of the conductor Valery Gergiev, a close friend of the Kremlin, from the management of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, while the soprano Anna Netrebko, in delicate posture, has decided to suspend its concerts.
Concert cancellations had been chained in recent days for the 68-year-old maestro, one of the most active on the international scene. Several institutions had sent him an ultimatum, his support for Vladimir Putin earning him criticism for several years.
“Munich is parting ways with chief conductor Valery Gergiev,” city mayor Dieter Reiter announced.
The Bavarian elected official had asked him to “clearly and categorically distance himself” from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the conductor remained silent.
This silence also earned him being withdrawn from the bill at La Scala in Milan (Italy) on March 7, and probably for the other performances of the month.
The prestigious Italian theater had urged him, in vain, to plead publicly for a “peaceful solution” to the conflict.
Meetings with Putin
In addition to his duties at the head of the Munich Philharmonic, since 2015 this hyperactive and controversial maestro has also been director of the prestigious Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg, the birthplace of the Russian president.
His closeness to Vladimir Putin, whom he has known since 1992, and his loyalty to him have earned him many controversies, especially during his participation in concerts in South Ossetia where Russian soldiers intervened and, in 2016, in Palmyra , in Syria, alongside the army of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
In 2018, in an interview with AFP, Valery Gergiev welcomed the re-election for a fourth term of Mr. Putin, whom he said he met “five to six times a year”.
So far, none of these positions had prevented him from conducting a concert. But his refusal to disavow the military invasion of Ukraine was a game-changer.
The Philharmonie de Paris, the Swiss festival of Lucerne or the New York hall Carnegie Hall have canceled several dates of his concerts.
He also had to resign from his positions as musical director of the orchestras of the Verbier Festival, Switzerland, and the Edinburgh Festival, Scotland.
On Sunday, it was his German artistic agent, Marcus Felsner, who decided to stop representing Valery Gergiev.
“Beyond political divisions”
In the wake of the maestro, other Russian artists are implicated.
The Bavarian Opera and La Scala canceled performances by Russian soprano Anna Netrebko on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk earlier called on Twitter for a boycott of his Wednesday performance at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.
This was finally postponed to September 2022: in the afternoon, the concert organizer, River Concerts, released a press release from the 50-year-old diva in which she announced “to give up concerts until further notice “.
“It’s not the right time for me to perform and make music. I hope my audience will understand this decision,” she added.
If the singer has not openly proclaimed her support for the Russian president, she is notably accused of having traveled to Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, in December 2015 to pose there with the flag of the pro-Russian separatist rebels. .
Sunday, M.me Netrebko had declared on Instagram “opposed to this war” with Ukraine, but without taking sides against the leaders of her country or clearly showing her solidarity with the Ukrainians.
“It is not right to force artists, or any other personalities, to express their political opinions in public and to denounce their homeland. […] I am not a political person. I am not a political expert. I am an artist and my goal is to unite people across political divides,” defended the star.