The legendary Russian conductor, artistic and general director of the Mariinsky Theater Valery Gergiev shared his thoughts on the future of the Caucasus with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza.
"I've been to Baku, Yerevan, and Tbilisi many times. My lesser motherland in the North Caucasus is Ossetia, and I mean both North Ossetia-Alania and South Ossetia, Ossetians live there too. And I can say that a huge number of people in the Caucasus want peace above anything else," he emphasized.
"The situation in the Caucasus today is better than it was, but there is still a lot to think about. We should thinks about how the Caucasus will look in 3, 5 and 10 years. I want to believe that it will be prosperous, rich and healthy region - but there's much to do for that to happen. I am not a politician, but I know that this is our collective concern - peace in the Caucasus and its economic growth," Valery Gergiev drew attention.
He also commented on the Mariinsky Theater's relations with Azerbaijan. "These are our neighbors. I performed in Azerbaijan once, I have friends there. Now we are considering that the Mariinsky Theater should have more works of Azerbaijani authors, including ballet scores on its repertoire than in the past 20 years. We have such plans, and we are moving towards them," the famous conductor said.
"I would like to add that I'd love to visit Baku again. I was recently in Yerevan, and it seems to me that everyone wants these two peoples to live in peace. This also applies to the entire Caucasus. Therefore, I wish them every success," Valery Gergiev concluded.
