The ultimatum delivered by the Mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter – that Valery Gergiev distance himself from President Putin’s aggressive actions in Ukraine – elicited no response from the conductor by yesterday, and so he has been removed from the role of Chief Conductor of the Munich Philharmonic.

In statement, published on the Munich PO’s website, the Mayor said ‘Munich is parting from principal conductor Valery Gergiev. With immediate effect, he will no longer be conducting concerts of the Munich Philharmonic. Valery Gergiev has not spoken out despite my call to “clearly and unequivocally distance himself from the brutal war of aggression that Putin is waging against Ukraine and now in particular against our twin city of Kyiv”.

‘I would have expected him to reconsider and revise his positive opinion of Russia’s ruler. He has not done so. In the current situation, however, a clear signal to the orchestra, its audience, the public and the city’s government would have been indispensable to allow us to continue working together. Since this was not forthcoming, we have no choice but to let him go. We will sort out everything else as soon as possible.’

The 68-year-old conductor, and a close friend of Vladimir Putin, has been Chief Conductor of the Munich Philharmonic since 2015.