Putin conducts a 'special musical operation' in Europe
Valery Gergiev dreams of a concert in Paris. The Russian conductor, who has close ties to the Kremlin, wants to return to France. “For a concert in honor of Debussy’s jubilee, in 2027. Culture is the starting point for normalizing our relations,” Alexei Mechkov, Russia’s ambassador to France, told Le Monde on February 17.
The 72-year-old maestro, the czar of President Vladimir Putin’s cultural elite, wants to return to European stages, with the support of Russian diplomacy and help from European music agents. The 165th anniversary of Claude Debussy’s birth could be the perfect opportunity. A musical pretext for a highly political event.
Starting on February 24, 2022, after having spent 20 years securing contracts across Europe and the United States, Gergiev was ordered to publicly condemn Russia’s “special military operation” against Ukraine. He refused. During the 2012 presidential election, he had openly supported his friend Putin.
In 2014, he signed a letter supporting the annexation of Crimea. In 2016, he appeared with his orchestra in Palmyra, the Syrian city recaptured by Bashar al-Assad’s forces thanks to the Russian army. In 2022, his past positions and his silence on the war led to him being banned from Western stages, including in Paris, Milan and New York as well as at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland and the Salzburg Festival in Austria. The anti-Gergiev front appeared united.
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