After being criticized in the West, even deprogrammed, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko was given a standing ovation on Wednesday evening at the Philharmonie de Paris, where her concert had already been deprogrammed three times because of the pandemic. The public gave him a triumphant welcome as he entered, applauding for long minutes.
Smiling and relaxed, wearing a long black and white dress, which she fluttered from time to time, the 50-year-old star performed pieces by Rachmaninoff, Debussy or Tchaikovsky, before receiving a standing ovation at the end of the show.
The Ukrainian Embassy in France for its part denounced on Twitter the maintenance “revolting“of this gig.”Afflicted by the glaring dissonance between French public opinion mobilized in its support for Ukraine and the hypocrisy of the public rushing to applaud the Kremlin soprano“, she wrote on the social network.
Revolting! Despite numerous appeals, the @philharmonie of Paris maintains the concert of Anna #Netrebko. Afflicted by the glaring dissonance between the public opinion mobilized in its support for the and the hypocrisy of the public rushing to applaud the soprano of the Kremlin.
— UA Embassy in France (@UKRinFRA) May 25, 2022
One of the greatest lyrical voices in the world, Anna Netrebko was among the first Russian artists to be singled out after 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, has thus deprogrammed her for an indefinite period. In Munich, the director of the Bayerische Staatsoper, Serge Dorny, removed it without discussion from its programming from March 1st. She then announced that she was temporarily withdrawing from the scene.
On March 30, she condemned “expressly the war against Ukraine“, which earned her to be removed from the poster in her own country where she is referred to as “traitor to his country“. 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.
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, the conductor Valery Gergiev, close to the Kremlin, was declared persona non grata by Western concert halls.
The soprano has never openly proclaimed her support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, but she is accused of having posed in December 2015 in Saint Petersburg with the flag of the pro-Russian separatist rebels and of having 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 off all funding, and assured that she had “never received financial support from the Russian government“and of never having allied with”no leader of Russia“.
In an interview with the daily Le Monde on Sunday, she repeated that she was “guilty of nothing“, claiming that his only mistake was not having “more informed about the situation in Donbass” and that she “just wanted to help friends in difficulty“.”I was also asked to declare myself against Vladimir Putin. I answered that I had a Russian passport, that it was still the president, and that I could not pronounce these words publicly. So I refused“, she added.
Anna Netrebko’s previous recital in Paris dates back to 2019, during a gala for the 350th anniversary of the Paris Opera. She will be back in December on the stage of this institution to sing in The Force of Destiny by Verdi. It will also make its big comeback in Italy, at the Arena of Verona, this summer.