Anna Netrebko and Arsenal footballer swept up in Putin election furore
mainThe Russian soprano has cancelled her appearance at the Vienna Opera ball after fierce criticism of her appearance on a list of 499 sworn supporters of Vladimir Putin’s presidential campaign. Other prominent endorsers include Valery Gergiev and the Arsenal footballer Andrei Arshavin.
Netrebko alienated her home base by taking Austrian citizenship in 2006. She now stands accused in Vienna of meddling in the affairs of another state, when all she is trying to do – not being a terribly political person or bothering much with newspapers – is to make nice to her mummyland.
Gergiev has also been attacked once more for getting too close to strongman Putin, who has destroyed Russia’s legal process, jails his opponents and makes light of the murders of investigative journalists.
Arshavin has no previous political form.
I don’t like Putin at all, but could “democratic Europe” imagine that for a miliouns people all over the world the same anti-democratic views are coming by persons like Obama, Merkel, Sarkozy, Bler…..but in Russia, at last few years you can see reconstructed Balsoi, succesful Marinsky theater, new CMS school for music…that is WONDERFUL for a music culture, not only in Russia….and contrary “democratic Europe” doesn’t care about music in Danmark, Holland, USA…and they are closing the orchestras, theatres…of course Gergiev, Netrebko and many otherartists were supported from their own country. I think it is so nice!
You have to eat a lot of Kapusta to believe this nonsense.
Having heard Gergiev murder Tchaikovsky 5 with the LSO recently maybe a career in politics would suit him better