Cancelled Concert by Anna Netrebko: Political Pressure & Ukraine Conflict Lead to Mutual Decision

2023-08-18 00:42:33

A concert by the Russian-Austrian star soprano Anna Netrebko that was planned for October 16 in Prague has been cancelled. This was announced by the Prague city administration and Netrebko’s agency on Thursday to the Czech news agency CTK. Both stressed that the cancellation was mutual. “We have agreed that we will give in to political pressure and that Anna will not demand any compensation,” said a spokeswoman for the concert agency.

Prague Deputy Mayor Jiri Pospisil welcomed the agreement and told CTK that Netrebko’s appearance would have been tricky once morest the background of the war in Ukraine: “This is the right decision in relation to our partner country, which is fighting for its independence,” he said. In July, Pospisil announced that he wanted to make his recommendation for or once morest a cancellation dependent on the approval of the Ukrainian embassy, ​​since Netrebko was on a Ukrainian sanctions list. She had finally spoken out to him once morest the concert.

Netrebko’s concert was scheduled to take place in the Smetana Hall of the Prague Municipality’s Obecni dum (Municipal Hall) Concert Hall. According to information from CTK, demonstrations by pro-Ukrainian organizations once morest the performance were feared. The Russian-Austrian dual citizen Netrebko has been living in Austria for years. In the past, however, she had supported Vladimir Putin in a presidential candidacy. Netrebko’s concert manager told CTK that the opera singer unequivocally condemned Russia’s war of aggression once morest Ukraine.

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