Gergiev set to return to Italy, for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, sparking protests from activists and politicians.Valery Gergiev, the renowned conductor and close friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin, is set to conduct in Italy for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.Gergiev, 72, will make his return to Italy for a concert on 27 July at the Un’Estate da Re cultural festival taking place at the Royal Palace of Caserta in the southern Campania region. The event will mark the first time that Gergiev has conducted in western Europe since he was shunned by leading orchestras and opera houses over his failure to condemn the invasion of Ukraine. Adding to the controversy in Italy is the fact that the Un'Estate da Re festival is financed with European Union funds. A staunch ally of Putin and one of Russia's most prominent cultural ambassadors, Gergiev has been the music director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg since 1988 and was recently appointed as general director of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. In February 2022, Gergiev was dropped by La Scala in Milan after refusing to answer a public ultimatum issued by the city's mayor Beppe Sala, who heads the theatre board. At the time the conductor was asked to make a choice: condemn the Ukraine invasion or don't come back to La Scala. Gergiev chose to remain silent. The Russian conductor's upcoming return to Italy - where he reportedly owns several highly valuable properties notably in Venice - has triggered protests from Italian activists and politicians, including Pina Picierno, vice president of the European parliament. In a post on X, Picierno said it was “unacceptable that European funds are being used to finance the performance of a Kremlin supporter”. She called on the festival organisers and the Campania governor Vincenzo De Luca to "take immediate action to prevent Valery Gergiev’s participation and ensure that taxpayers’ money does not end up in the pockets of a supporter of a criminal regime.” "We are all in favour of peace, art and culture, and you could involve many Russian artists" - Picierno said - "Not Gergiev, who is a sort of personal ambassador for Putin, who has never distanced himself from his war crimes; on the contrary, he has often lent himself to celebrating them, even with his concerts." However De Luca, a member of the same centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) party as Picierno, has defended Gergiev's participation in the festival, saying it demonstrated that “dialogue between people can grow and the values of human solidarity can develop." Anticipating the potential controversy during the presentation of the festival on 3 July, De Luca said: "When Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, there was a moment of stupidity in our country, of madness; Russian artists were almost banned from performing in Italy. There were even problems at La Scala." The clash between Picierna and De Luca has also spilled over into other political parties in Italy, newspaper Corriere della Sera reports. Ivan Scalfarotto, senator and foreign affairs representative for the centrist Italia Viva, said: "If we think we can fight this battle by censoring art, culture and music, we risk dangerously resembling those we rightly want to fight." Alfredo Antoniozzi, deputy group leader of premier Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Fratelli d'Italia in the lower house, said: "Gergiev is simply a great artist. If the Russians have to pay for their president's mistakes, then we're committing a sort of cultural genocide", adding that Picierno "would probably ban Fyodor Dostoevsky from coming to Italy today, if he were alive." Photo credit: Alexey Smyshlyaev / Shutterstock.com.

Valery Gergiev, the renowned conductor and close friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin, is set to conduct in Italy for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Gergiev, 72, will make his return to Italy for a concert on 27 July at the Un’Estate da Re cultural festival taking place at the Royal Palace of Caserta in the southern Campania region. The event will mark the first time that Gergiev has conducted in western Europe since he was shunned by leading orchestras and opera houses over his failure to condemn the invasion of Ukraine. Adding to the controversy in Italy is the fact that the Un'Estate da Re festival is financed with European Union funds. A staunch ally of Putin and one of Russia's most prominent cultural ambassadors, Gergiev has been the music director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg since 1988 and was recently appointed as general director of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. In February 2022, Gergiev was after refusing to answer a public ultimatum issued by the city's mayor Beppe Sala, who heads the theatre board. At the time the conductor was asked to make a choice: or don't come back to La Scala. Gergiev chose to remain silent. The Russian conductor's upcoming return to Italy - where he reportedly owns several highly valuable properties notably in Venice - has triggered protests from Italian activists and politicians, including Pina Picierno, vice president of the European parliament. In a post on X, Picierno said it was “unacceptable that European funds are being used to finance the performance of a Kremlin supporter”. She called on the festival organisers and the Campania governor Vincenzo De Luca to "take immediate action to prevent Valery Gergiev’s participation and ensure that taxpayers’ money does not end up in the pockets of a supporter of a criminal regime.” "We are all in favour of peace, art and culture, and you could involve many Russian artists" - Picierno said - "Not Gergiev, who is a sort of personal ambassador for Putin, who has never distanced himself from his war crimes; on the contrary, he has often lent himself to celebrating them, even with his concerts." However De Luca, a member of the same centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) party as Picierno, has defended Gergiev's participation in the festival, saying it demonstrated that “dialogue between people can grow and the values of human solidarity can develop." Anticipating the potential controversy during the presentation of the festival on 3 July, De Luca said: "When Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, there was a moment of stupidity in our country, of madness; Russian artists were almost banned from performing in Italy. There were even problems at La Scala." The clash between Picierna and De Luca has also spilled over into other political parties in Italy, newspaper Corriere della Sera reports. Ivan Scalfarotto, senator and foreign affairs representative for the centrist Italia Viva, said: "If we think we can fight this battle by censoring art, culture and music, we risk dangerously resembling those we rightly want to fight." Alfredo Antoniozzi, deputy group leader of premier Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Fratelli d'Italia in the lower house, said: "Gergiev is simply a great artist. If the Russians have to pay for their president's mistakes, then we're committing a sort of cultural genocide", adding that Picierno "would probably ban Fyodor Dostoevsky from coming to Italy today, if he were alive." Photo credit: Alexey Smyshlyaev / Shutterstock.com.