Gergiev concert sparked weeks of controversy in Italy.The organisers of an Italian cultural festival on Monday announced the cancellation of an upcoming concert due to be led by pro-Putin conductor Valery Gergiev.The Russian conductor, who has been shunned in the West over his failure to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was set to conduct a concert on 27 July as part of the Un'Estate da RE festival at the Royal Palace of Caserta near Naples. His scheduled participation sparked an outcry, both in Italy and abroad, leading to calls from Yulia Navalnaya, wife of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, for the event to be cancelled. In an op-ed for Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Navalnaya described the 72-year-old conductor as a "conscious and active accomplice of Putin's regime" who "implements Russia's soft power policy". Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli, who in recent days said the event posed a propaganda risk, in a statement on Monday welcomed the "free and unquestionable decision" by the Reggia di Caserta management, saying it had his "full and unwavering support". Gergiev, music director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, last conducted in Italy on 23 February 2022 at La Scala in Milan.

The organisers of an Italian cultural festival on Monday announced the cancellation of an upcoming concert due to be led by pro-Putin conductor Valery Gergiev. The Russian conductor, who has been shunned in the West over his failure to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was set to conduct a concert on 27 July as part of the Un'Estate da RE festival at the Royal Palace of Caserta near Naples. His scheduled participation , both in Italy and abroad, leading to calls from Yulia Navalnaya, wife of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, . In an op-ed for Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Navalnaya described the 72-year-old conductor as a "conscious and active accomplice of Putin's regime" who "implements Russia's soft power policy". Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli, who in recent days said the event posed a propaganda risk,  on Monday welcomed the "free and unquestionable decision" by the Reggia di Caserta management, saying it had his "full and unwavering support". Gergiev, music director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, last conducted in Italy on 23 February 2022 .