** The delicate but distinct line separating artistic freedom from politics and propaganda appears irrevocably severed in the case of Russian maestro Valery Gergiev. The 72-year-old conductor of prestigious ensembles like the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg and the Bolshoi in Moscow, considered a staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin, is scheduled to perform on July 27th at the “A Royal Summer” festival at the Royal Palace of Caserta, an event planned and funded by the Campania Region.
However, days of simmering controversy surrounding the performance erupted into a full-blown row, prompting a firm stance from Italy’s Culture Minister, Alessandro Giuli. “Art is free and cannot be censored,” Giuli stated. “Propaganda, however, even when executed with talent, is another matter entirely.”
Adding fuel to the fire, Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, wrote in La Repubblica, labelling Gergiev a “close friend of Vladimir Putin. Not just a friend. Not just a supporter. But also a promoter of Putin’s criminal policy, his accomplice and backer.” While acknowledging Gergiev as “an excellent conductor,” she argued that “great artists can be on the list of the wicked and not hesitate to cover brutal and inhuman regimes with their reputation.”
Minister Giuli aligned with critics, stating: “The concert of Putin’s friend and advisor, Valery Gergiev, wanted, promoted, and paid for by the Campania Region and to be held at the Royal Palace of Caserta – autonomous, like all autonomous institutions of the Culture Ministry, in choosing which events to host – risks sending the wrong message.” He added, “Ukraine is an invaded nation, and Gergiev’s concert could transform a high-level but objectively controversial and divisive musical event into a sounding board for Russian propaganda. That, for me, would be deplorable.”
Campania Region President Vincenzo De Luca defended the invitation. “We have welcomed thousands of Ukrainian citizens into our territory; we have demonstrated solidarity. We do not intend to accept logics of exclusion or the interruption of dialogue, because that does not help peace. This only serves to fuel rivers of hate and distances us from peace,” De Luca asserted. He further criticized “those least qualified to speak” who “say not a word about the genocide of children in Gaza and pretend to worry about other things and other figures in the world of culture and art who hold no political decision-making power.”
Dissenting voices emerged from within the center-left PD party. European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno noted the concert “must be canceled also because it violates the ethical regulations of the Royal Palace of Caserta. Among its guidelines, initiatives or hospitality for subjects violating the UN’s 2030 Agenda are incompatible.” She highlighted Agenda point 16 condemning violence, torture, arms and money trafficking, and demanding access to fair justice, values she deemed “light years away from Gergiev and the regime he sponsors, endorses, and is complicit with.”
Action Party leader Carlo Calenda concurred: “I am obviously against general cultural boycotts, but those who play an active political role in supporting a dictator hostile to our country cannot have space and support in Italy.” Mara Carfagna, Secretary of Noi Moderati, cited a Navalny Foundation investigation detailing “the maestro’s role as an ambassador for Putinism and a supporter of aggression against innocent peoples.” PD Senator Filippo Sensi was unequivocal: “Gergiev should play on Red Square.”
Gergiev’s last Italian performance was at Milan’s La Scala in late February 2022, as Russian forces prepared to invade Ukraine. He was dismissed from the theatre after ignoring Mayor Giuseppe Sala’s request to distance himself from Putin. Similar cancellations followed at institutions including Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Munich Philharmonic.
Riproduzione riservata © Copyright ANSA