Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic on Thursday announced that Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, a friend and prominent supporter of Russia’s President Vladimir V. Putin, will no longer conduct a series of concerts there this week, amid growing international condemnation of the Mr Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Gergiev, who was slated to conduct the Philharmonic in three high-profile performances at the venue starting Friday night, is increasingly critical of his support for Mr Putin, whom he has known for three decades and has defended repeatedly.
No reason was given for his removal from the programs. But the extraordinary last-minute decision to replace a star maestro, apparently because of his ties to Mr. Putin — just days after the Philharmonic’s chairman insisted that Gergiev appear as an artist, not a politician — reflected the rapidly growing global uproar over the invasion.
While Mr Gergiev has not spoken publicly about the unfolding attack, he has supported Putin’s previous moves against Ukraine, and his performance in Carnegie was expected to spark vociferous protests. He has been the target of similar demonstrations during previous appearances in New York, amid criticism of Mr Putin’s law banning “propaganda about non-traditional sexual relations,” which was seen as an attempt to destroy the Russian gay rights and gay rights movement. to suppress its annexation of Crimea.
Carnegie and the Philharmonic also said that Russian pianist Denis Matsuev, who was scheduled to perform with Gergiev and the orchestra on Friday, would not appear. Mr. Matsuev is also an associate of Mr. Putin; in 2014 he expressed his support for the annexation of Crimea.
Mr. Gergiev will be replaced for the three Carnegie concerts by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who will lead a new production of Verdi’s “Don Carlos” on Monday at the Metropolitan Opera, where he is musical director. A replacement for Mr. Matsuev was not immediately announced.
Both Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic had previously defended Mr. Gergiev. But Mr Putin’s statement about the launch of a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Thursday put further pressure on the venue and orchestra to reconsider.
Activists started a #CancelGergiev hashtag on Twitter, spreading photos of Mr. Gergiev next to Mr. Putin. The two have known each other since the early 1990s, when Mr. Putin was a civil servant in St. Petersburg and Mr. Gergiev began his tenure there as leader of the Kirov (later Mariinsky) Theater.
In 2012, Mr. Gergiev appeared in a television advertisement for Mr. Putin’s third presidential campaign. In 2014, he signed a petition hailing the annexation of Crimea after Russia’s culture ministry called leading artists and intellectuals to suggest they support the move. Mr Gergiev was quoted by a state newspaper at the time as saying: “Ukraine is for us an essential part of our cultural space, in which we grew up and in which we have lived until now.”
In 2016, Gergiev led a patriotic concert in the Syrian city of Palmyra, shortly after Russian airstrikes helped drive the Islamic State out of the city. On Russian television, the concert was interspersed with videos of the Islamic State’s atrocities, part of a propaganda effort to take pride in Russia’s military role abroad, including its support for the government of President Bashar al-Assad. from Syria. Mr Putin thanked the musicians via video link from his holiday home on the Black Sea.
Understand the Russian attack on Ukraine
What is the basis of this invasion? Russia sees Ukraine as its natural sphere of influence, and it has become nervous about Ukraine’s proximity to the West and the prospect of the country possibly joining NATO or the European Union. Although Ukraine is part of neither, it receives financial and military aid from the United States and Europe.
In recent days, Mr Gergiev has also come under pressure in Europe, where he has a busy tour schedule. Officials in Milan said on Thursday he must either condemn the invasion or face the prospect of canceled appointments with the Teatro alla Scala, where he directs Tchaikovsky’s opera “The Queen of Spades,” according to Italian media reports.
The Vienna Philharmonic said a few days ago that Mr. Gergiev was a gifted performer and would take the stage for the Carnegie dates. “He’s going as an artist, not a politician,” Daniel Froschauer, the orchestra’s president, said in an interview with DailyExpertNews on Sunday.
Clive Gillinson, Carnegie’s executive and artistic director, had also previously offered support to Gergiev, saying he should not be punished for expressing political views.
“Why should artists be the only people in the world who are not allowed to have political opinions?” Mr Gillinson said in an interview with The Times in September. “My opinion is that you only judge people by their artistry.”
Gergiev is scheduled to return to Carnegie in May to lead two performances with the Mariinsky Orchestra; it was unclear whether those performances will take place as planned.
In recent months, Mr. Gergiev has performed regularly with the Vienna Philharmonic, in Austria and abroad. He recently tested positive for the coronavirus and was forced to cancel some performances, including one with the Philharmonic last week. He has since recovered and returned to conducting, including a performance by “Queen of Spades” in Milan on Wednesday evening.
