Valery Gergiev appointed general director of the Bolshoi Theatre
Today, the Bolshoi Theatre sent out the following press release:
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree appointing Valery Gergiev as general director of the Bolshoi Theatre. Vladimir Urin was released from this position at his own request.
Valery Gergiev is a world-famous conductor. Since 1996 – permanent artistic director and director of the State Academic Mariinsky Theater.
He is the founder of prestigious international festivals; since 2011, he has headed the organising committee of the International Competition named after P. I. Tchaikovsky. On his initiative, the All-Russian Choral Society was revived, on the basis of which the Children’s Choir of Russia was created, which performed at the largest venues in the country.
The musical and social activities of Valery Gergiev were awarded three State Prizes of the Russian Federation, the titles of People’s Artist of Russia, Honored Artist and Hero of Labor, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II, III and IV degrees, and the Order of Alexander Nevsky.
On December 1, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova and Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Olga Lyubimova introduced Valery Gergiev to the theatre staff in his new capacity.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
The blatant act of nepotizm. Putin simply rewarded Gergiev for the latter’s loyalty by compensaing for all international income lost after the invasion of Ukraine. Gergiev (poor thing!) not only lost his contracts in Europe, but also had to sell some properties. I only saw the info about two in Italy valued around $20 mil.
Keine gute Entscheidung, beide Häuser unter eine Leitung zu stellen. Gergiev fragt W.W. Putin ” und wann finde ich noch Zeit zum dirigieren? W.W. Putin “Mein lieber Freund, wenn Sie Zeit dafür haben – natürlich.”