As Musical America reports, an open letter supporting Putin's annexation of Crimea is having repercussions for Russian artists.
The Ukraine National Opera in Kiev has canceled a concert by pianist Denis Matsuev, scheduled for March 27. The violist Yuri Bashmet has lost his honorary professorship at the Lviv National Music Academy in Lviv, Ukraine. In Munich, City Council Chairman Florian Roth has denounced Valery Gergiev's upcoming appointment as principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic as "unacceptable." In London, some audience members of the London Symphony Orchestra, where Gergiev is principal conductor, have returned their tickets for his upcoming concerts.
On March 11, Matsuev, Bashmet, and Gergiev were among more than 80 Russian cultural figures to sign a statement published in the Russian newspaper Izvestia in support of Russia’s military intervention in Crimea. Other signatories included Bolshoi Theater Director Vladimir Urin and Zurab Tsereteli, president of the Russian Academy of Arts.