Valery Gergiev, a Putin Ally, Fired as Chief Conductor in Munich
Valery Gergiev, the star Russian maestro and prominent supporter of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, was removed Tuesday from his post as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic after he refused to denounce Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Dieter Reiter, the mayor of Munich, announced his decision in a news release saying termination of Mr. Gergiev’s contract was the only option available.
Mr. Gergiev’s abrupt dismissal, three years before his contract was set to expire, was the biggest setback yet for the conductor, who has been the target of widespread anger and condemnation in recent days for his long record of support for Mr. Putin and his policies.
The city said that Mr. Gergiev, who had held the post of chief conductor since 2015, had failed to respond to a demand issued on Friday by Mr. Reiter that he condemn Mr. Putin’s “brutal war of aggression” by Monday or be fired.
The news release said that “with immediate effect, there will be no further concerts by the Munich Philharmonic” under Mr. Gergiev’s baton.
Mr. Reiter said in his statement that “I would have expected him to reconsider and revise his very positive assessment of Russia’s leader. He didn’t.” Termination was the only option, the statement added.
Mr. Gergiev did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
One of Russia’s most prominent cultural ambassadors, the conductor has faced the loss of a number of concerts and tours around the world since the start of Mr. Putin’s invasion on Thursday, which prompted a long list of performing arts institutions to sever ties with him. But the loss of his leadership position at the helm of a major European orchestra suggested much more serious ramifications for his international career.
It is a stunning turnaround for Mr. Gergiev, whose packed schedule and regular engagements with many of the world’s leading concert halls and opera houses has led the website Bachtrack, which collect statistics on classical music performances, to proclaim him the world’s busiest conductor in several recent seasons.
Mr. Gergiev is a prominent supporter of Mr. Putin, endorsing his re-election and appearing at concerts in Russia and abroad to promote his policies. The two have known each other since the early 1990s, when Mr. Putin was an official in St. Petersburg and Mr. Gergiev was beginning his tenure as the leader of the Mariinsky, then called the Kirov.
Mr. Putin has played an important role in Mr. Gergiev’s success, providing funding to the Mariinsky Theater, where Mr. Gergiev serves as general and artistic director.
His international engagements began drying up last week, when Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic dropped him from a series of performances. On Sunday, Mr. Gergiev’s manager announced he was ending his relationship with his client.
The manager, Marcus Felsner, said in a statement that it had become impossible to defend Mr. Gergiev, whom he described as “one of the greatest conductors of all time, a visionary artist loved and admired by many of us, who will not, or cannot, publicly end his long-expressed support for a regime that has come to commit such crimes.”
Understand Russia’s Attack on Ukraine
What is at the root of this invasion? Russia considers Ukraine within its natural sphere of influence, and it has grown unnerved at Ukraine’s closeness with the West and the prospect that the country might join NATO or the European Union. While Ukraine is part of neither, it receives financial and military aid from the United States and Europe.
Are these tensions just starting now? Antagonism between the two nations has been simmering since 2014, when the Russian military crossed into Ukrainian territory, after an uprising in Ukraine replaced their Russia-friendly president with a pro-Western government. Then, Russia annexed Crimea and inspired a separatist movement in the east. A cease-fire was negotiated in 2015, but fighting has continued.
How did this invasion unfold? After amassing a military presence near the Ukrainian border for months, on Feb. 21, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia signed decrees recognizing two pro-Russian breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. On Feb. 23, he declared the start of a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Several attacks on cities around the country have since unfolded.
What has Mr. Putin said about the attacks? Mr. Putin said he was acting after receiving a plea for assistance from the leaders of the Russian-backed separatist territories of Donetsk and Luhansk, citing the false accusation that Ukrainian forces had been carrying out ethnic cleansing there and arguing that the very idea of Ukrainian statehood was a fiction.
How has Ukraine responded? On Feb. 23, Ukraine declared a 30-day state of emergency as cyberattacks knocked out government institutions. Following the beginning of the attacks, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, declared martial law. The foreign minister called the attacks “a full-scale invasion” and called on the world to “stop Putin.”
How has the rest of the world reacted? The United States, the European Union and others have condemned Russia’s aggression and begun issuing economic sanctions against Russia. Germany announced on Feb. 23 that it would halt certification of a gas pipeline linking it with Russia. China refused to call the attack an “invasion,” but did call for dialogue.
How could this affect the economy? Russia controls vast global resources — natural gas, oil, wheat, palladium and nickel in particular — so the conflict could have far-reaching consequences, prompting spikes in energy and food prices and spooking investors. Global banks are also bracing for the effects of sanctions.
On Monday, the fallout continued, with the Verbier Festival in Switzerland saying it had asked for and accepted the resignation of Mr. Gergiev as music director of the festival’s orchestra. (The festival also said it would ban other artists who had shown support for Mr. Putin’s actions, and that it would return donations from individuals under sanctions from Western governments.)
The Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland, where Mr. Gergiev served as honorary president, also said Monday that he had resigned his position after being asked to do so. Philharmonie de Paris, a performing arts complex in France, announced it was canceling two concerts in April with Mr. Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra. And the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland said it was canceling two performances in August with Mr. Gergiev and the Mariinsky.
“In view of Russia’s acts of war in violation of international law, we are sending a clear signal of solidarity to the people of Ukraine,” Michael Haefliger, the festival’s executive and artistic director, said in a statement.
Several other institutions have threatened to cancel Mr. Gergiev’s engagements unless he condemns the attack on Ukraine, including the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Teatro alla Scala and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.
Alex Marshall contributed reporting.
