Earlier this week, Valery Gergiev abandoned a performance of Mussorgsky’s “Salammbo” in order to conduct another performance at another theater on the same night.

According to various telegram channels and a report from Slippedisc, “Valery Gergiev left one of the premiere performances at the Bolshoi Theater to conduct a performance of a song based on the poems of Maria Zakharova.”

As a result, the audience had to wait during intermission due to Gergiev’s absence. According to sources, the audience was not warned that the intermission would last longer than usual nor that the conductor would leave to conduct another concert.

Gergiev apparently conducted at the VTB Arena and led the patriotic song “Return the Memory” based on the poems of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry. He also received the Golden Gramophone Award.

Gergiev is currently the director of the Bolshoi Theatre and the Mariinsky Theatre and was known for overscheduling when he conducted in the West and barely rehearsing his orchestras.