Italian authorities have blocked Valery Gergiev’s concert in Italy from taking place. Gergiev’s first performance in Europe since the start of the fighting in Ukraine was to take place at a festival in southern Italy. The country’s Ministry of Culture criticized local authorities for inviting them, and they urged not to interfere with cultural exchanges.

Image above: Gergiev and Minister Giuli

Landmark show halted indefinitely

Gergiev was scheduled to perform on July 27 as part of the Un’estate da Re festival. It was assumed that he would give a concert in Europe for the first time after the outbreak of fighting in Ukraine in 2022 and would conduct the orchestra of the Verdi Theater from Salerno with the participation of the Mariinsky artists.

The Russian Embassy stated that the scandalous situation surrounding Gergiev’s concert was artificially created. “It showed that in Italy, with the full connivance of the authorities, they adhere not to party, but to quite active and vociferous destructive forces that are doing everything to provoke a negative perception of Italy in Russia and Russia in Italy, and in fact, to quarrel between the peoples of our countries, Russians and Italians,” the embassy noted.

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, in particular, opposed the decision of the Campania region authorities to invite Gergiev. “Art is free and uncensored. However, propaganda, even if it is talented, is nothing else,” he said. According to the minister, the speech of Gergiev, whom he called a friend and adviser to President Vladimir Putin, “may send the wrong signal.”

Not the right type of freedom of expression

The Vice-president of the European Parliament, Pina Picerno, also called for the cancellation of this type of freedom of speech, demanding guarantees that EU funds would not be used to support “initiatives related to individuals close to regimes whose values contradict European ones.” The New York Times noted that the festival is funded from European countries. The event sparked protests from other Italian politicians and international activists, Reuters reported. Among them is Alexei Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya.

The head of the Campaign, Vincenzo De Luca, rejected the criticism, telling reporters that the obstruction of cultural exchanges “does not promote peace, but only incites streams of hatred.” De Luca, who condemns Israel for the operation in Gaza, noted that Gergiev was invited along with Israeli conductor Daniel Oren to maintain a dialogue “even with those who do not think like us.”

The last time Gergiev performed in Italy was on February 23, 2022, when he conducted the opera “The Queen of Spades” at La Scala. The Milan Theater stopped cooperating with him after Gergiev refused to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The Bavarian State Opera made a similar decision, and Carnegie Hall in New York also canceled his performances.

In recent years, Gergiev has performed in Oman, Bahrain, Turkey and China, among others.