First with the news: Gergiev’s massive wealth is exposed by Navalny report
News
Supporters of the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have applied their forensic skills to the global wealth amassed by Putin’s conductor Valery Gergiev, accusing him of lawbreaking and corruption on a massive scale.
You can watch their video in Russian here:
Among other revelations in their report is explosive evidence that Gergiev holds Dutch citizenship – which may be illegal in Russia – that he owns one of Milan’s most lucrative restaurants, a stretch of land next to Rimini airport, a palazzo in Vienna, a prestige apartment in New York and many properties in Russia. They allege that he used funds from a charitable music foundation for his own purposes.
Many of these allegations are supported by documents.
Gergiev has been a wholehearted supporter of Putin’s wars.
They quote some of his statements:
‘Vladimir Putin has a clear and deeply penetrating logic when he talks about Crimea, the situation in Ukraine.” Especially topical lines now.’
‘Russia is lucky, it has a strong leader!’
‘We want to help Sergey Lavrov, with whom I am friends. As a collective ambassador of Russia, appearing at difficult points, to do something so that the understanding of the activities of the Russian leadership, especially the president, is deeper, more direct and sincere; to understand what Russia is today.’
Gergiev is complicit in Putin’s crimes, they maintain.
In Rotterdam in 2014, Gergiev organizes a charity concert dedicated to the victims of the downed Boeing MH17 over Donbass. The maestro makes a heartfelt statement: “My heart, thoughts and condolences are now with those who mourn the loss of relatives and friends. Having worked in Rotterdam for 25 years, I feel deeply close to the Dutch people and share with them the overwhelming pain of this tragedy.” How wonderful, right? His trustee, Putin, and his army shot down this Boeing, killed three hundred innocent people, and then Gergiev, in a country that lost 192 citizens, publicly mourns this. Amazing hypocrisy.
You can read the shocking documentation here.
If all is true, a heinous person.
I-just-can’t
Absolutely incredible. Especially the claims about his charitable foundation as a fraudulent operation. I wonder if the makers of the film have asked Mastercard and Nestlé about their support of the charity? If that true he should never work again.
It seems pretty unlikely he will ever work in the west again.
Of course, he will. Netrebko is already back and Currentsis has played in Vienna. All the pearl clutching, condemning and protesting comes to naught when there is no consistency.
Let’s hope that his career in the west is indeed at an end – including his CDs and DVDs being withdrawn so his royalty stream falls to near zero.
Of course he will. He will be on timeout for a little while and like Dutoit, Domingo, and a host of others, he will return as if nothing had happened.
For what is truly an important story, I’m disappointed that they got some facts wrong which fact checking should have identified, because Russian media will use this to attack the credibility.
For instance, they say of the Repino concert hall:
“Initially, the site in Repino was given to the Maestro on lease from the city. But then, miraculously, both the land and the building itself ended up in Gergiev’s personal property.”
As SD reported in 2017, the city gifted personally gifted him the land in 2005 and Gergiev paid to build the hall (https://slippedisc.com/2017/04/gergiev-is-building-concert-hall-in-his-garden/). Now I’m sure other people’s money was used to build the hall, but let’s get the facts right.
I don’t get why they are harping so much on the NYC apartment and leading the story off with that. He obviously bought it when he was the principal guest conductor of the Met. It’s a far, far cry from the skyscraper condo towers on W 57th St where the cost of units range from $7.5 million to $70 million.
Most troubling — and I don’t get why they didn’t lead off with it — is the foundation being used to buy personal property.
Gosh, all of this money makes it even more bizarre that Yasu Toyota and Nagata Acoustics didn’t charge Gergiev for designing the acoustics at the dacha concert hall.
They rely on primary sources – actual documents, rather than second-hand reports
Not surprised. Of course, he makes the same kind of money in conducting fees other international conductors make, including recording royalties. But I have read that because of his total control over Marinsky and Bolshoi and all things fund raising in Russia, that money has gone to him and his family to fund a lavish lifestyle. Some singers are resentful, but no Russian singer will talk about this because Gergiev can destroy your career (and has done so to singers who complained). The money does not flow down to Russian singers, most of whom make peanuts (except for Netrebko) when singing in Russia. Then you have the massive construction jobs of renovating the Bolshoi and new Marinsky theaters. Lots of money, both government and oligarchs) coming in. Lots of opportunity to take money off the top as administrative fees. Also his connection to Putin and opportunities to invest. Friends be friends. No proof here, just what I have read on the internet by people outside of Russia.
There are many American women who, over the years, have given millions to him. Also paid for lavish parties at Russian Embassy and Florida to name two, and exhibits in Petersburg at the Mariinsky.
If true, this speaks volumes about sycophantic people who have zero self-respect, who vicariously experience success and whose judgment about character is questionable. Bathing in reflected glory was and remains a dubious past-time.
Should we now shame these women?
Didn’t they used to shave their heads?
Sickening.
If he’s not conducting in the west, look how much he’ll save on toothpicks now! With that savings, he can afford to get a good razor or electric shaver.
It’s such a Russian thing; rob your people and keep them soaked in Vodka so they don’t notice.
Or rob your people, and keep them soaked in fears of critical race theory, LGBT indoctrination, inflation (which is happening everywhere as a consequence of the PANDEMIC, not government policies), etc.
Sue…you are yet again taking time away from your study of Jordan Peterson. You really must return to your studies!!
I think I only have a couple of Gergiev CDs in my collection, all of them kind of uninteresting. They’re not there anymore. Recycled.
you should get rid of your recordings of Fürtwengler, Wagner, Liszt etc etc etc… in fact get rid of all of them, who needs music – every country has done wrong, they’re all stained in blood
I’m mystifo; what did Liszt do wrong?
Liszt’s Les preludes was played by the Nazis after each victory.
How do you recycle CD’s?
Put him on the sanction list and seize his property.
Let’s just call Putain and Gergiev Trump and Kushner and be done with it.
The bit about ‘most talented musician on the planet’- rather laughable- the bit about ‘total crook’- spot on. Incredible how a classical musician can amass such wealth through such dubious connections & corrupt means- even if half this documentary is true- its a real shocker. But I would predict, more likely that VG, will continue to divide his time private jetting around the world conducting top orchestras & hanging out in his Italian & St Petersburg Palazzos rather than contemplating a couple of rides in his clapped out kids theme park outside Rimini.
So what’s the great discovery? that Gergiev has money and ties to Putin? How about that he put Mariinsky on the map? how about that he employs over 3000 people and has helped started a huge number of careers, built numerous halls more efficiently than whole committees in Germany who struggled for years.
wow, people need to get a life. and the final scenes of music to war? really?! shallow investigation.
Stop Putin, stop war and free Navalny, that’s all one can agree with – the rest? sensationalist garbage click-bait.
Gergiev put Mariinski on the map?
You are a clown.
Peterburg opera dates from well before the revolution, which ended up in exporting the greatest prize of all to the WEST.
The Russian imperial ballet.
Russia exports its talents in the great brain drain.
The reason why Gergiev can’t cut it in anywhere else but some sort of corrupt Russian cultural oligarchy?
Because he hasn’t a brain, and even his so called talented conducting (the horrible Musin school), revolves around a palsy like shake meaning nothing, late arrivals to concerts(insulting to the concert public), and a total inability to rehearse an orchestra.
I have recorded Gergiev.
The concert was one of the worst shambles I could ever recall.
Typical of a shabby wannabe musician living a high life off charlatanism.
Same thing true of another Musin shill – Correntzis.
It’s high time these non-entities packed their bags and have all travel rights in the Schengen zone reduced to the same ashes as their favourite grand leader has done to the towns and cities of Ukraine.
How about the part where Gergiev takes money from the charitable foundation for private use? Remember the allegations against Navalny? Also, as director of the Mariinsky, apparently he acted against the law by not revealing his properties.
There is a lot more to this story. Dutch citizenship for example.
https://navalny.com/p/6621/
So what? He can’t take it with him if he goes. The British Chancellor and is wife are mega-rich too. None of them have stolen it I presume? Who cares? Nothing to do with the war as such. Perhaps look in the wealthy sides of London first.
Ugly, just ugly fascistic regime and classical Russian culture it’s screen for covering bloody crimes!
I am glad you paid attention to it long before I posted this investigation video right now! Thank you!