The 50-year-old concert planned for June 2 could not take place, the opera in Siberian Novosibirsk said on Thursday. The opera house indirectly accused the singer, who lives in Austria, of having betrayed her home country.
“Living in Europe and having the opportunity to perform in European concert halls has proven to be more important than the fate of the fatherland,” the opera said in reference to Netrebko. “We must not be afraid of cultural workers turning their backs on their country. Our country is rich in talent and yesterday’s idols are being replaced by others with a clear civic stance.”
Netrebko has been under criticism in the West since the Russian attack on Ukraine began because she was seen as a supporter of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. Finally, on Wednesday, she expressly distanced herself from Putin and his military deployment in Ukraine. “I recognize and regret that some of my actions or statements in the past could be misinterpreted,” she said.
performance break
At the beginning of March, Netrebko announced a break from performing. The Bavarian State Opera, among others, had previously ended cooperation with her and justified this with a lack of sufficient distance from Russia’s actions against Ukraine. Netrebko’s agency in Germany parted ways with her last week.
After the latest statement, the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden initially wanted to wait for direct discussions with the singer. “At the moment she has decided not to do ‘Turandot’ with us in this phase, we agreed on that with her,” said director Matthias Schulz on Thursday, according to the State Opera. The 50-year-old was scheduled to sing in Giacomo Puccini’s opera in June. “I can’t comment on future projects yet, basically we said that Russian artists will of course continue to perform with us,” said Schulz. “It would be important for me to speak directly to Anna Netrebko first, I would like to wait and see.”
Many artists, athletes and other celebrities from Russia are currently in the dilemma that the West is demanding distance from Putin and the leadership in Moscow is demanding support for their actions. At the beginning of March, the city of Munich fired the chief conductor of the Philharmoniker, Valeri Gergiev, because he failed to distance himself from the head of the Kremlin and his military deployment in Ukraine.
Source: Nachrichten
