There was an interesting, if occasionally frustrating, profile of Valery Gergiev in last week’s New York Times magazine. Frustrating because the article was headlined “The Loyalist” (the cover line was “An Overture to Russian Nationalism”) that seemed to want to condemn Gergiev for being a) proud of being Russian and b) far too close to the Kremlin. The former charge seems perverse unless, that is, any expression of Russian patriotism is inherently threatening and the latter seems, in some ways, almost inescapable if the Mariinsky Theatre (formerly the Kirov) wants to be able to do business and thrive in Russia.
Still, the article opens with a striking scene: Gergiev conducting Shostakovich’s (splendid) “Leningrad” Symphony at a special concert in Tshinvali, the capital of South Ossettia. No need to search too hard for the political symbolism there.
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