The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra is down one chief conductor.
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Usually out of the headlines, the German symphony orchestra suddenly surfaced in conversation after it was revealed that the symphony conductor was fired over his support of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Munich Philharmonic conductor, Valery Gergiev, has been accepting of Putin’s politics since the early 1990s. Their relationship first began when Putin was serving as an official in St. Petersburg, and he helped to fund the Mariinsky Theater where Gergiev is the general/artistic director.
In light of recent events involving Russin and Ukraine, Mayor Dieter Reiter asked that Gergiev reconsider his stance on the Russian president and reject the recent invasion of Ukraine. Gergiev reportedly refused to change his stance.
Mayor Reiter then promptly asked for Gergiev’s resignation. On March 3, Reiter publically spoke about how he came to this decision to fire Gergiev.
“I had expected him to rethink and revise his very positive assessment of the Russian leader,” Mayor Reiter said. “After this didn’t occur, the only option is the immediate severance of ties.”
The Munich Philharmonic is one of Munich’s four principal orchestras alongside the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Radio Orchestra, and the Bavarian State Orchestra. Gergiev has been the chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra since its 2015-2016 season, and before his termination, his contract with the orchestra was not set to expire for another three years.
Additionally, Gergiev was reportedly let go from his position as honorary conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, a Dutch symphony orchestra.
Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for BMW & London Symphony Orchestra
