Palmyra amphitheatre hosts Russian concert after recapture by Syrian forces

The Kremlin’s favourite conductor, Valery Gergiev, is to conduct a triumphal concert on Thursday in the amphitheatre of Palmyra in Syria, following the complex’s recapture in March by Russia-backed Syrian forces.


Gergiev will perform at 5pm Moscow time with musicians from St Petersburg’sMariinsky orchestra, The Guardian reports, citing the Russian news agency Tass . The concert is titled: “With a prayer from Palmyra. Music revives the ancient walls.”


The concert is likely to get blanket coverage from Russian state TV channels. They have portrayed Moscow’s intervention in Syria – its first outside the borders of the Soviet Union since the cold war – as a humanitarian action against terrorists.


Gergiev, the former principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, is a controversial and outspoken supporter of Vladimir Putin. Gergiev warmly endorsed Putin’s candidacy ahead of Russia’s 2012 presidential election. He has also backed official moves to ban what Moscow says is “gay propaganda”.