Valery Gergiev. Photo: Columbia Artists.
In Monday’s (6/23) Classic 107 (Winnipeg, Canada), Chris Wolf reports, “The Canadian government has imposed sanctions on famed Russian conductor Valery Gergiev—one of Vladimir Putin’s most prominent cultural allies—as part of a new round of measures targeting Russia’s inner circle and war machine. The announcement came following talks between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G7 summit, where global leaders reaffirmed their support for Ukraine and condemned Russia’s ongoing invasion. Gergiev, currently the general and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, has been a vocal supporter of Putin for years…. The internationally renowned maestro finds himself on Canada’s sanctions list, alongside 43 other individuals and entities identified as close to the Kremlin. The sanctions freeze Canadian assets and bar entry into the country. The move is particularly notable as it represents one of the few times a high-profile cultural figure has been officially sanctioned by a Western government. Gergiev’s fortunes in the West have plummeted since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He was swiftly dropped by leading cultural institutions including the Munich Philharmonic (where he served as chief conductor), Rotterdam Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, and BIS Records.”
