Russian conductor Gergiev dropped from bill by Italy's La Scala

MILAN -

Russian Valery Gergiev will not conduct the orchestra at Milan's La Scala this week after he failed to condemn the invasion of Ukraine, the city mayor said on Monday.

Gergiev -- general director of the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre and regarded as close to Russian President Vladimir Putin -- conducted "The Queen of Spades," an opera based on Alexander Pushkin's novel at La Scala on Feb. 23.

The show will run ‪until March 15 and the next performance will be on Saturday.

"I don't think he will be there, I think at this point we can rule it out," Giuseppe Sala, La Scala theatre board chairman and mayor of Milan, told reporters on Monday.

"The Maestro did not reply to us," he added.

Mayor Sala and La Scala artistic director Dominique Meyer had urged Gergiev last week to condemn the Ukraine invasion or no longer be allowed to perform in the show.

Gergiev was also supposed to conduct three concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall leading the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from Feb. 25-27.

But the Russian conductor was replaced by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, according to the theatre's website, which gave no reason for that decision.

The Mariinsky Theatre did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Moscow-born Gergiev, 68, has performed in the most famous theatres around the world. In 2013, Putin awarded him the first title of Hero of Labour of Russia.

(Reporting by Sara Rossi,Editing by Keith Weir and Ed Osmond)

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