Valerie Kerkiev, who is known to be close to popular Russian conductor Vladimir Putin, was fired at the last minute from a series of performances at Carnegie Hall this weekend. The prestigious New York Hall was announced on Thursday, the first day of the concert. Invasion of Ukraine.
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Kerkiev was scheduled to perform the first three concerts on Friday, when he was replaced by Yannick Nesset-Seguin, the music director of the Med Opera in New York.
In their statement, the two companies did not give a reason and did not link Russia’s declaration of occupation of Ukraine, while calls for a demonstration in front of the Manhattan Concert Hall were launched on Facebook.
On Thursday, the prestigious Scala in Milan threatened to break away from Tchaikovsky’s two upcoming shows of the Queen of Spaces scheduled for March 5 and 13, and had already asked conductors around the world to publicly plead for a “peaceful solution” to the conflict.
Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Orchestra also note that Vladimir Putin’s supporter pianist Denis Matsuev was not present when he was scheduled to perform on Friday.
Valerie Kerziev, 68, director general of the prestigious Marinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, is one of the world’s most beloved performers.
His close acquaintance with Putin since 1992, his loyalty to the Russian president in annexing Crimea, his participation in concerts in bombed South Ossetia and with the Syrian army in Palmyra are among the many factors. Controversy over the last decade.
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