New York City while performing. After a public outcry in the country, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture blacklisted Gergiev from performing in Ukraine. Terminations after 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra said that it would drop Gergiev from its September festival if he did not stop supporting Putin. Milan's La Scala also sent a letter to Gergiev asking him to declare his support for a peaceful resolution in Ukraine or he would not be permitted to complete his engagement conducting Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. This followed an announcement by New York City's Carnegie Hall that it had canceled two May performances by the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra that were to be conducted by Gergiev, and the Vienna Philharmonic dropping Gergiev from a five-concert tour in the U.S. that was to start on 25 February. On 28 February, the Verbier Festival requested and accepted Gergiev's resignation as Music Director of the Verbier Festival Orchestra. On 1 March, Munich's mayor Dieter Reiter announced the termination of Gergiev's contract as conductor of the Munich Philharmonic for failing to respond to a demand that he condemn the "brutal war of aggression that Putin is waging against Ukraine and now, in particular, against our sister city of Kyiv". On 13 October, has been expelled from his position as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music for his reluctance to condemn Russian invasion of Ukraine. Personal life In 1999, Gergiev married musician Natalya Dzebisova—a teenager at the time, 27 years his junior, and also of Ossetian descent. They have three children together: two boys and a girl. From time to time, Gergiev has been reported to be a friend of Putin; they have been said to be godfathers to each other's children, but in a letter to The Daily Telegraph Gergiev rejected this notion. From a past relationship with the language teacher Lena Ostovich, he has another daughter, Natasha. In April 2022, the Anti-Corruption Foundation of Russian Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny released a video revealing the immense wealth of Gergiev, including various properties in Italy (among others Palazzo Barbarigo in Venice), the U.S. and Russia. A significant part of his wealth is said to stem from the inheritance of Yoko Nagae Ceschina. Recordings Gergiev has focused on recording Russian composers' works, both operatic and symphonic, including Mikhail Glinka, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Alexander Borodin,