The rope is being tightened in the West against Ossetian leader Valerie Kerky, one of the art figures of Vladimir Putin’s regime. On Sunday morning, he lost the support of his European agent Marcus Felsner in Germany. “I was told today that Maestro Valerie Kerkiev is no longer a client of Felsner artists,” Marcus Felsner wrote on Facebook. The name and photo of the leader, so far this company’s featured artists, have already disappeared from the company’s webpage.
“In the light of the criminal war waged by the Russian regime against Ukraine, the democratic and independent country of Ukraine, and against the European open community as a whole, it is impossible and clearly inappropriate for us to defend the interests of Maestro Kerky. One who does not want to publicly stop his long-standing support for a regime can not or will not stop.
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“Like it or not” … The conductor who brought the Soviet opera company, which has been running card displays with hand-painted canvases for the past thirty years, tells us all about a self-discovering partner. A world-renowned company with two theaters, a concert hall, hundreds of staff and international tours.
Gergiev, a kind of modern-day Karajan Shakti 3, spearheads all of this, and has received the unconditional support of subsequent Russian public officials to set up this plan, especially since Vladimir Putin entered the Kremlin.
“Valerie Kerkiev is for me, will continue to be, an extraordinary man of living and an extraordinary man with deep dignity. His unwavering commitment has helped countless artists create their international careers and introduced the beauty of music to millions. The world,” Marcus Felsner writes.
“It is completely wrong to hold artists accountable for their nationality. All arts are political, but not all artists are politicians. However, artists also understand the clear difference between patriotism and radical political support for their country’s current government. My real hope is that the State Academic Marinsky Theater and its director Valerie Kerkiev will soon enjoy the freedom to represent to the world a nation that is proud of its immense artistic heritage, its language and its amazingly talented people. The commitment of its leaders to peace, open society and the rule of law, “said the former operator’s agent.
The immediate stakes for Gergiev are clear: on Monday, he faces a final warning from the mayor of Munich (a twin city with Kiev) who will be Philharmonic’s music director, but he also faces Milan’s Scala. He is scheduled to perform again on March 5 and in Rotterdam, where he has a festival in September. Carnegie Hall has canceled its visit with its Marinsky Band in May.
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