A concert in Italy by Russian conductor Gergiev is canceled after protests

ROME (AP) — A concert by Russian conductor Valery Gergiev has been canceled, organizers in Italy announced Monday, following protests against giving the stage to the conductor who has been largely barred from European venues for failing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Gergiev had been invited to conduct during a summer festival at the Royal Palace of Caserta near Naples next Sunday. The regional governor, Vincenzo de Luca, had defended the invitation, saying that “the logic of preclusion … does not help peace.’’

The invitation had been widely criticized by human rights activists, Russian opposition figures and European parliamentarians.

Gergiev, who is head of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Russian state theaters, is considered close to President Vladimir Putin.

Milan’s La Scala was the first theater in the West to cut off relations with Gergiev, who was engaged at the theater when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, after he failed to respond to Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala’s appeal to speak out against the war.