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“I am Russian and I represent my country every day, even when I am on vacation.” This is how blunt the Russian conductor was
Valery Gergiev(Moscow, 1953) during an interview with ABC on the occasion of a tour of our country in 2014. The exclusive meeting took place during a train trip between Madrid and Lérida. For an hour and a half, the most important living Russian baton in the world –and now more sacked for not condemning the invasion of Ukraine– shared memories about his career and also answered –after previously negotiating it– to questions about President Vladimir Putin, territory usually closed.
“The man (Putin) who is presented in the Western media it’s completely different. It is very boring to constantly have to test this », argued Gergiev, whose close relationship with the Russian president is well known and dates back to his youth (the president was born in Saint Petersburg in 1952 and was deputy mayor of the city). The symbiotic relationship between the two is what makes it indestructible.
There are several storms, caused by decisions of the Russian president, those that have whipped the musician’s career without knocking it down: when he supported Russia’s invasion of Georgia (2008) or when he did not question the anti-gay law enacted by Putin. This latest controversy was about to wreck the negotiation to sign him as head of the Munich Philharmonic (which yesterday fired him for not condemning the invasion of Ukraine). On that occasion, a statement on Facebook, supporting the gay community, saved the situation.”That was put by the Mariinsky Theater, not me,” he revealed to this newspaper on that trip.
As a musician, Gergiev projects an old-fashioned halo of power, that of the great conductors. He also possesses a superhuman work capacity, leading 200 concerts in a year –with few rehearsals sometimes–. His hectic schedule has even caused him to miss the beginning of one of his concerts. Holder of several international formations, he has combined them with his main work, almost State: the orchestra and the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg, with which he has been associated for more than 40 years. An institution that has become the largest cultural complex in the world and a symbol of Russia after the construction, thanks to the Russian president’s blank check, of several spaces – an auditorium and a new opera house, whose inauguration was attended by the Putin himself. A huge “factory” that employs 4,000 people and makes money from his numerous tours.
In the personal aspect, Gergiev, of an introspective character according to those who know him, is affable despite enjoying the privileges of minister –with bodyguards included– in Saint Petersburg.
Its relationship with Spain is long and stable. He visits us every year with his orchestra or with other formations, such as the vienna philharmonic, which he directed in Madrid a month ago. Among his milestones, we can highlight the year in which he directed the opera ‘Semión Kotko’, a pro-Soviet allegation composed by Prokofiev, which had an exceptional spectator –not a very music lover– at the Teatro Real, together with the Mariinsky hosts. King Don Juan Carlos.