Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, criticized for not denouncing the war in Ukraine, expressed her condemnation of the invasion “clearly” on Wednesday in a message posted on Facebook on Wednesday. At the same time, she announced that she would resume her concerts in Europe at the end of May.
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The Russian soprano residing in Vienna Anna Netrebko had so far been criticized for not having denounced the war in Ukraine. This Wednesday, March 30, the singer expressed “clearly” his condemnation of the invasion and announced to resume his concerts in Europe at the end of May, on Facebook. “I regret that my past actions or statements may have been misinterpreted”wrote the famous 50-year-old artist. “I expressly condemn the war against Ukraine. My position is clear”she added.
While the pressure had increased on her shoulders and those of other Russian artists, Anne Netrebko, who has dual Russian and Austrian nationality, announced on March 1 that she was giving up all her performances on stage. “until further notice”. In particular, she was to perform in March at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, at La Scala in Milan and in Zurich. She had also left the Metropolitan Opera in New York two days later, before her agent confirmed to the German weekly Der Spiegel the end of their collaboration.
If she has not openly proclaimed her support for the Russian president, she is accused of having traveled to Donetsk in December 2015 to pose there with the flag of the pro-Russian separatist rebels. She also caused controversy when she presented a check for one million rubles (about 15,000 euros) to pro-Russian Ukrainian leader Oleg Tsarev.
Anna Netrebko defended herself by explaining that she wanted to support the arts, and more particularly the Donetsk Opera, to which Ukraine had cut all funding.
“I have only met (Russian) President Putin a handful of times in my life, mostly at the award ceremony for my art or at the opening ceremony of the Olympics” winter in Sochi, Russia, in 2014, she argued on Wednesday March 30, also ensuring that she did not have “never received financial support from the Russian government”.
Several Russian artists have been sidelined in the West, in particular the conductor Valery Gergiev, close to the Kremlin, sacked from the direction of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. Anna Netrebko started her career thanks to him in 1994.