Overview

• The July 27 concert by Kremlin-linked conductor Valery Gergiev is scheduled at the Royal Palace of Caserta as part of the Un’Estate da Re festival organized by the Campania region.
• Italy’s Culture Ministry has publicly distanced itself from the event, warning that Gergiev’s appearance could become a vehicle for Russian propaganda.
• Julia Navalnaya and Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb have called for the concert’s cancellation, dubbing Gergiev an artistic envoy for Vladimir Putin and citing his refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Campania president Vincenzo De Luca defended the invitation as a means to keep cultural dialogue open and noted that Israeli conductor Daniel Oren will also perform.
• Gergiev, a longtime Putin ally who leads both the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres, was dropped by major European institutions after 2022 for failing to distance himself from the Kremlin.