Valery Gergiev
[10] In 1985, Gergiev made his debut in the United Kingdom, along with pianist Evgeny Kissin and violinists Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin at the Lichfield Festival.
"[18] In December 2012, Gergiev sided with the Putin administration against the members of Russian band Pussy Riot and suggested that their motivation was commercial.
[19] In New York City in 2013, the LGBT activist group Queer Nation interrupted performances by orchestras conducted by Gergiev at the Metropolitan Opera[20] and Carnegie Hall.
[21] The activists cited Gergiev's support for Vladimir Putin, whose government had recently enacted a law that bans the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" to minors, as the reason for their actions.
[22] In a public statement Gergiev replied: "It is wrong to suggest that I have ever supported anti-gay legislation and in all my work I have upheld equal rights for all people.
"[22] Writing in The Guardian, Mark Brown wrote: "Gergiev's case was not helped by comments he made to the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant on 10 September [2013]: 'In Russia we do everything we can to protect children from paedophiles.
[27][28][29] Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra said that it would drop Gergiev from its September festival if he did not stop supporting Putin.
Milan's La Scala also sent a letter to Gergiev asking him to declare his support for a peaceful resolution in Ukraine or he would not be permitted to complete his engagement conducting Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades.
[17][34] On 13 October, Gergiev was expelled from his position as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music for his reluctance to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
[2] In April 2022, the Anti-Corruption Foundation of Russian Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny released a video revealing the immense wealth of Gergiev, including various properties in Italy (among others Palazzo Barbarigo in Venice), the U.S. and Russia.
[39][40][41] Gergiev has focused on recording Russian composers' works, both operatic and symphonic, including Mikhail Glinka, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Alexander Borodin, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky and Rodion Shchedrin.
[42] Gergiev's recording of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet with London Symphony Orchestra on LSO Live in 2010 was voted the winner of the Orchestral category and the Disc of the Year for the 2011 BBC Music Magazine Awards.
[43] BORODIN: In the Steppes of Central Asia, BALAKIREV: Islamey Each one available separately Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano Kenneth Tarver Evgeny Nikitin LSO Chorus
