On Monday, however, the Reggia di Caserta canceled the event. The decision came amid mounting criticism from Italian politicians, MEPs, and Ukrainian and anti-Kremlin activists, who condemned Gergiev’s well-documented support for warmongering Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“He is not just a simple conductor, as some continue to claim. He is a figure entirely embedded in the Kremlin’s criminal regime, he’s a pawn of that regime, a sort of personal ambassador of Putin in the world of culture,” European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno, a member of Italy’s center-left Democratic Party (PD), told POLITICO.
“This guy has no right to have the podium in Europe. He lobbies for the war against Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Deputy Culture Minister Andrii Nadzhos told POLITICO, adding that Kyiv considers Gergiev “guilty” in the conflict.
Since being removed from Milan’s La Scala in 2022 for refusing to publicly distance himself from the Kremlin and denounce Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Gergiev has become a symbol of the increasingly blurred lines between Russia’s artistic heritage and state-sponsored propaganda.
The Reggia di Caserta has not yet announced which performer will replace Gergiev in the concert originally planned for Saturday.