“Gergiev was to perform with the Munich Philharmonic and cellist Truls Mørk in Prague on September 9,” said festival spokeswoman Markéta Voráčová.

“We cannot ignore the current events in Ukraine and leave us without a reaction and a show of solidarity not only towards the innocent victims of the coming war. We act clearly on behalf of the festival and cancel the performance of conductor Valeriy Gergiev, due to his historically verifiable aggressive Russian foreign policies and President Putin himself. The situation concerns all of us who live for democracy, we would rather like to separate politics from art, “said Robert Kolář, director of the Academy of Classical Music.

The cast of the new conductor of the guest orchestra at the concert on September 9 is currently under negotiation, the name of which will be announced by the organizers as soon as possible. Tickets for this one have been offered by Dvořák’s Prague in advance since November last year, and the organizers will be able to return the entrance fee due to a change of performers.

Gergiev has problems elsewhere as well. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala and La Scala Opera House chief Dominique Meyer urged him to sign up for peace on Thursday (February 24th). The mayor and the head of the theater did so in view of the conductor’s numerous statements in support of Putin. “If he doesn’t, we will be forced to cooperate,” Sala said. Gergiev is to conduct the Queen of Spades at Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s opera in the opera theater in the first half of March.

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, who is beginning their American tour in New York today, where Gergiev was to conduct them, also faced criticism for collaborating with the Russian conductor. Daniel Froschauer, a member of the orchestra’s management, rejected the criticism as saying that “culture must not become a place of political conflict,” Carnegie Hall announced that neither Gergiev nor pianist Denis Matsuyev would perform at the three joint concerts. According to Carnegie Hall, the changes were caused by “recent world events”.

According to the DPA, Gergiev, who is the chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, has not yet commented on the conflict.