Verona "canceled" Ildar Abdrazakov

The Arena di Verona Foundation's board of directors has withdrawn Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov from its production of the opera "Don Giovanni." This was announced by Vice-President of the European Parliament Pina Picerno. A corresponding statement was also published on the cultural institution's official website.

"Abdrazakov will not perform at the Filarmonico Theatre in Verona," Picerno wrote on social media. The politician also thanked opposition politician Alexei Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, and the FBK for their assistance.

Notably, according to TASS, Picerno personally pushed for the cancellation of Russian cultural figures' performances in Italy, including Valery Gergiev's concert scheduled for this summer in Caserta. She also previously facilitated the cancellation of Abdrazakov's performance at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.

Ildar Abdrazakov is one of the world's leading opera singers, a soloist with the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theaters. In 2010, he won a Grammy Award for his performance of Verdi's Requiem under Riccardo Muti, and in 2012, he was recognized as the "world's best bass." Abdrazakov is a member of the Presidential Council for Culture and Arts, heads the Elena Obraztsova International Academy of Music, and, since late last year, has been the artistic director of the Sevastopol State Opera and Ballet Theater.

Abdrazakov, 49, has been married to actress Marika Gvilava for eight years, with whom he has three children. He also has two adult children from his previous marriages to singers Olga Trifonova and Olga Borodina.

Photo: ildarabdrazakovfoundation/Instagram****Added to the Russian Federation list of individuals with known involvement in extremist activity or terrorism**Recognized as a foreign agent, an extremist organization, banned in the Russian Federation, and liquidated***