The Russian Ambassador in Rome pointed out the shock caused by the situation with Gergiev's concert.

The artificially created situation around the symphony concert of the Russian conductor and Director General of the Bolshoi Theater Valery Gergiev looks inappropriate and causes consternation. This was announced on July 21 by Russian Ambassador to Italy Alexey Paramonov after the cancellation of the speech.

"The aggressive rhetoric and disproportionate controversy in the Italian media in connection with Gergiev's invitation to speak are shocking. <…>. The scandalous situation artificially created around the concert scheduled for July 27, 2025 looks absolutely inappropriate," Paramonov said, his words are quoted in the Telegram channel of the Russian Embassy in Rome.

According to the diplomat, the Russian Federation has already paid attention to the words of the Italian authorities against the policy of Western states to abolish Russian culture, and in this regard the situation looks "inappropriate." Such actions showed that there are "few, but quite active and vociferous destructive forces operating in Italy," Paramonov stressed.

"It is sad to look at Italy, whose government, contrary to promises to protect the sovereignty and national interests of the country, subordinates its cultural policy to the demands of Ukrainian and other immigrants and their political lobby from among the opposition," he said.

The Russian ambassador also said that the cancellation of Gergiev's concert would not harm Russia, Italy itself would suffer, which undermines its authority by such actions. Because of this, there may also be doubts about the openness and hospitality of those "who, with their talent, professionalism and sincerity, bring the beautiful and eternal to the world," Paramonov concluded.

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Earlier that day, the management of the Royal Palace of Caserta in Italy canceled Gergiev's symphony concert. According to the ANSA news agency, the Russian conductor has been criticized for publicly supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Gianluca Durante, a representative of the partner organization of the SCABEC concert, told Izvestia that it was not yet known at what level the decision to cancel the performance was made.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.