Royal Opera House drops Bolshoi conductor Pavel Sorokin

LONDON

The Royal Opera House in London on March 7 said it would not be using the Russian conductor Pavel Sorokin for an upcoming performance of “Swan Lake.”

“Given the ongoing situation in Ukraine, it is not possible for Pavel Sorokin, conductor for the Bolshoi Orchestra, to guest conduct for the Royal Ballet at this time,” a statement said.

The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, where the Royal Ballet is based, said last week it had cancelled a season of performances by Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet.

Both announcements follow a series of others by Western artistic and cultural institutions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sorokin made his Royal Ballet debut conducting “Swan Lake” in 2007, according to a biography on the Royal Opera House website.

Born in Moscow, he studied piano and conducting at the Moscow Conservatory before beginning work at the Bolshoi Theatre as a ballet pianist in 1983.

He has performed at leading venues around the world, including the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Paris Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.