José Carreras and Plácido Domingo are set to collaborate with Putin supporters Hibla Gerzmava and Valery Gergiev in December in Dubai.

The news comes with the announcement of the Dubai Opera’s 2025-26 season.

Both legendary tenors will perform in a gala titled “Stars of the Century Opera Gala” in which they will take on opera, zarzuela, Broadway, and global songs. They will perform alongside the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra.

Domingo and Carerras join Ambrogio Maestri, Ramon Vargas, and Ferruccio Furlanetto, among the Western singers who have collaborated with Valery Gergiev since the invasion of Ukraine. They also join such singers as Elena Stikhina, Alexey Markov, Igor Golavatenko, and Maria Baraova, among others, who have collaborated with Gergiev throughout the War in Ukraine while still singing in the West.

Since the war broke out in Ukraine, Gergiev has backed Putin and has been stripped of all his positions in the West and sanctioned by Canada. He was fired from the Munich Philharmonic, Verbier Festival, and Rotterdam Orchestra. Several of his concerts were canceled at the Teatro alla Scala and Carnegie Hall, among many others. He has since become the General Manager of the Bolshoi Theatre and was named Chair of the Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize.

Gerzmava is also a known Putin ally who was among the performers to sign a letter that supported the annexation of Crimea and was seen celebrating the dictator’s birthday on numerous occasions.

The Dubai Opera Gala is set to take place on Dec. 22, 2025.

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