She sang in April in Monte-Carlo. But Anna Netrebko’s concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris on Wednesday, then at La Scala in Milan on Friday mark the great return to Western capitals of the star Russian soprano, criticized since the war in Ukraine.
Considered one of the greatest lyrical voices in the world, the soprano was among the first Russian artists to be singled out following the start of the invasion of Ukraine for not having clearly denounced the war.
The prestigious Metropolitan Opera in New York, of which she was the star, thus deprogrammed her for an indefinite period and she then announced that she was temporarily withdrawing from the stage. In particular, she had given up the role of Lady MacBeth at the Zurich Opera at the end of March.
On March 30, she “expressly condemned the war once morest Ukraine”, which led to her being removed from the poster in her own country.
The soprano has never openly proclaimed her support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, but she is accused of having traveled to Donetsk in December 2015 to pose with the flag of the pro-Russian separatist rebels.
In their country, Russian artists have been called upon to display their patriotism or, failing that, to remain silent, and in Western countries, to publicly distance themselves from the military operation and the Russian regime.
Anna Netrebko also caused controversy when she presented a check for one million rubles (nearly 17,000 francs) to the pro-Russian Ukrainian leader Oleg Tsarev.
She defended herself by explaining that she wanted to support the arts, and more particularly the Donetsk Opera, to which Ukraine had cut all funding. She claims to have “never received financial support from the Russian government” and to have never allied with “any leader of Russia”.
In an interview with the French daily Le Monde on Sunday, she repeated that she was ‘not guilty of anything’, saying that her only mistake was not having ‘been more informed regarding the situation in Donbass’ and that she wanted ‘just to help friends in difficulty’.
‘I was also asked to declare myself once morest Vladimir Putin. I answered that I had a Russian passport, that it was still the president, and that I might not pronounce these words publicly. So I refused,’ she added.
Despite its condemnation of the war, the Met has called into question all of its contracts until May 2026, according to her.
His former mentor, conductor Valery Gergiev, close to the Kremlin, was declared persona non grata by Western concert halls and festivals, notably those of Verbier (VS) and Lucerne.
Anna Netrebko’s concert at the Philharmonie on Wednesday had already been postponed three times due to the coronavirus pandemic – it was due to be held in November 2020. Her last recital in Paris was in 2017, with the exception of a gala in 2019 for the 350th anniversary of the Paris Opera.
/ATS