The management of the Reggia di Caserta palace said Monday that it has cancelled a concert by Russian conductor and Vladimir Putin friend Valery Gergiev that had been scheduled to take place on July 27 as part of its ‘Un’Estate da Re’ (King’s Summer) festival.

The planned show had caused an uproar, with the central Italian government, Russian dissidents and Ukrainian associations criticising it.

The 72-year-old conductor, who had been invited by the Campania Regional Government, has never expressed opposition to Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The performance at the former Bourbon royal palace to the north of Naples would have effectively ended a ban from European stages imposed on Gergiev following Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.