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Vladimir Putin is, by all appearances, a great fan of classical music. Last February, the Russian head of state took the time to receive the conductor Valery Gergiev, his personal friend and cultural ambassador, now banned from the biggest world stages, including the Verbier Festival, since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. During this interview, transcribed on the Kremlin website, Vladimir Putin showed concern about the tone of a Puccini masterpiece: “Turandot may seem to place excessive emphasis on cruelty.” Valery Gergiev’s rather elusive response: “What I would say is that this opera is truly exceptional.”
In a country which is still waging its war of annexation, blacklisted by Western powers, music remains a major political issue. Officially, the Bolshoi Theater and the Mariinsky Theater, the two flagship institutions, one in Moscow and the other in Saint Petersburg, both directed by Valery Gergiev, play every evening to sold-out audiences. “As foreign scenes refuse his presence, Valery Gergiev has repositioned his role towards the strengthening, within Russia itself, of patriotic cultural stories, aligned with state policy,” analyzes Alexander Meienberger, specialist in Eastern Europe, attached to the University of Saint-Gall.
