The Bashkir talent will continue to shine in the Eurasian expanses.
In Italy, the performance of Russian opera singer Ildar Abdrazakov in the production of "Don Giovanni" in Verona has been canceled. This was reported on social media by the Vice President of the European Parliament, Pina Picierno.
Russian opera singer Ildar Abdrazakov will not take the stage at the Philharmonic Theatre in Verona, where he was supposed to perform the title role in Mozart's opera. The cancellation was prompted by appeals from European politicians and several public organizations opposing his participation.
In her social media post, Picierno stated that she considers what happened a "victory over Kremlin propaganda." The Italian association Liberi Oltre le Illusioni also opposed the singer's arrival, claiming that Abdrazakov supports the conflict in Ukraine.
Ildar Abdrazakov is a Honored Artist of Russia and one of the most renowned opera basses. He heads the International Academy of Music named after Elena Obraztsova and, in 2023, took charge of the Sevastopol State Opera and Ballet Theatre. In the 2024 presidential elections in Russia, he was a trusted person of Vladimir Putin and is a member of the council under the president on culture.
This is not the first time the singer's participation in European productions has been canceled. In 2024, the San Carlo Theatre in Naples excluded him from the opera season. Previously, Abdrazakov announced the suspension of his collaboration with Milan's La Scala for family reasons and reported that he had "paused" his relationship with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
In Italy, other performances by Russian artists have also been canceled over the past year: in July, Valery Gergiev's participation in the Un’Estate da Re festival was canceled, although the concert was supposed to be his first performance in Europe since the start of military actions in Ukraine.
R. Abdrazakov (49) was born and raised in Ufa. His mother, Taskyria Abdrazakova, is an artist, his father, Amir Abdrazakov, is an actor, television and film director, and founder of the Bashkortostan film studio, and his older brother, Askar Abdrazakov, is an opera singer. Ildar began performing on stage and acting in his father's films at the age of four.
In May 2022, Abdrazakov earned about $50,000 for a 10-minute performance on Red Square. In 2024, he became a trusted person of presidential candidate Vladimir Putin. In 2024, he joined the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for Culture and Art.
