A star conductor and friend of Vladimir Putin has quit his role at the Edinburgh International Festival.
Valery Gergiev, who was an Honorary president of the festival, resigned from the position this evening.
A statement from Edinburgh International Festival, issued this evening, read: "The board of trustees of the Edinburgh International Festival has asked for, and accepted the resignation of, Valery Gergiev as Honorary President of the Festival. Edinburgh is twinned with the city of Kyiv and this action is being taken in sympathy with, and support of, its citizens."
A close friend of Putin, the conductor was also dropped by his management yesterday after failing to condemn the Ukrainian conflict and action taken by the Russian President.
Gergiev has faced growing pressure to speak out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been removed from performances around the world and faces becoming more of a pariah if he does not condemn Putin’s aggression in the next 24 hours.
On Sunday, his manager, Marcus Felsner, announced he would be dropping Gergiev.
He said he was “the greatest conductor alive and an extraordinary human being with a profound sense of decency”, but who “will not, or cannot, publicly end his long-expressed support for a regime that has come to commit such crimes.”
He added: "In the light of the criminal war waged by the Russian regime against the democratic and independent nation of Ukraine, and against the European open society as a whole, it has become impossible for us, and clearly unwelcome, to defend the interests of Maestro Gergiev,”.
Mr Felsner said it was “the saddest day of my professional life.”
Gergiev has been given a deadline of today by the Mayor of Munich to publicly denounce Putin's invasion, or he will also lose his post as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic.
The move by Gergiev’s management comes just before a Monday deadline imposed by the mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter, on Gergiev to publicly denounce the invasion. If Gergiev does not comply, Reiter said he would be fired as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic.
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