Anna Netrebko: I’m done with Wagner

The soprano, in an extensive interview with a Russian opera magazine, says she loves Wagner more than any other composer but she’s not taking on any more roles beyond Elsa:

I’m not going to take up Wagner any more, even though he is my favourite composer. His music puts me in a trance. Wagner, Britten, these composers that I do not sing, are the ones I love most.

For my voice, Wagner is not right. Senta in the Flying Dutchman? Why should I sing it? It can be done remarkably by a million other sopranos. Elsa I sang, because I dreamed about it for a long time, this is Wagner’s most lyrical part, and she’s more … Italian than his other roles. I love her very much and in a year I will repeat it in Bayreuth. Another role I really enjoy with Wagner … is Isolde. But why should I go there? I’d rather sit in the auditorium and listen…

Read on here.