The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has announced the postponement of the concert “Pas de deux for toes and fingers” due to international tensions.

The performance was set to star Svetlana Zakharova and Vadim Repin on Jan. 20 and 21, 2026. However, the company said that due to tensions with Russia, it could jeopardize the success of the show and its intentions.

As a result, the company will reimburse audience members.

According to earlier reports Zakharova is a member of Vladimir Putin’s presidential council for culture and art and has served in the State Duma from 2007 to 2011 for the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. Repin is Zakharova’s husband.

Pina Picierno of the Vice-president of the European Parliament praised the cancelation stating, “Svetlana Zakharova, a close associate of Putin and former mp for the United Russia party, will not perform at the Maggio Fiorentino. She was scheduled to appear on 20 and 21 January. Thank you to all the citizens and associations who mobilised, and thanks as well to the Ukrainian Embassy in Italy. In our country, there is no place for collaborators of criminal regimes.”

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