In this photo taken on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, Boris Mezdrich as former director of the Novosibirsk State Opera and Ballet Theater speaks to the media in Novosibirsk, about 2,800 kilometers (1,750 miles) east of Moscow. As the controversy over "Tannhauser" grew in recent weeks, many Russian cultural figures spoke out in defense of the theater's interpretation of Richard Wagner's 19th century opera, but on Sunday, March 29 2015, Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky fired Boris Mezdrich as director of the Novosibirsk State Opera and Ballet Theater, a position he held in 2001-2008 and since his reappointment in 2011.(AP photo/Ilnar Salakhiev)