Anna Netrebko: So happy to be back at La Scala
NewsThe soprano has posted this message:
‘Every time I can sing at Teatro alla Scala I feel like coming home. I’ve been to so many shows and had the honor of starring in so many premieres in this legendary theater that holds a special place in my heart. After the disappointment of having to give up Adriana Lecouvreur performances earlier in the year, I’m particularly happy to be holding my first piano recital at Scala. I look forward to sharing a lot of wonderful music with Milan fans on Friday, May 27.’
The Ukrainian Ambassador is expected to submit a protest. The Mayor of Milan (who banned Gergiev) may also take a view.
There is a horrible moral ambiguity about this transaction. Nobody emerges with clean hands or conscience.
‘There is a horrible moral ambiguity about this transaction. Nobody emerges with clean hands or conscience.’
After all her statements and after not seeing the hypocrisy on complaining about her and not about many others (opera house included) who have profited from Putin and his oligarchs throughout the years, you really fulfill the saying – there isn’t anyone more deaf than he who doesn’t want to hear.
And in this case the insistence in being deaf is utterly vile. Please stop.
I think Norman Lebrecht is right, actually, that there is a horrible moral ambiguity about this.
And you, Perspective, could be right: that Netrebko is being picked on (and is in the spotlight) more than (most) other opera stars, or indeed Russian musicians in general.
The exception is Gergiev and I think it is right that he has been banned at many major concert venues as, to my knowledge, he hasn’t so far denounced anything regarding the war.
Well, folks, that’s it. It’s over. Russia 1 – Khazaria 0.
We’ve said it before: during war times, we all feel supportive of each other and prone to see virtue where typically there is none. This interesting phenomenon is ubiquitous and encroaches in surprising places: we would even be generously inclined to expect coherence and steadfastness from … Italians!!
Then, we suddenly awake from this misty fog, and we remember that Italy is the birth place of famous conductors who make stirring speeches against Putin, only to hang on tight to the honors and awards they personally received from him.
Oh Italy, cradle of unimpeachable moral authorities. You can see one who represents the soul of the country, here:
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/18/1413629942370_wps_4_BERLUSKONI_PUTIN_Russian_.jpg
And another one, who represents the musical soul of the country, here:
https://www.dagospia.com/mediagallery/Dago_fotogallery-147406/592875.htm
Yes, that Italian conductor is a hypocrite and a coward. He used his “bully pulpit” to make a speech against Putin in Chicago, while having Putin’s “Russian Friendship” award proudly printed on his biography on that same night, and on every concert night in the previous decade. Subsequently someone on this blog pointed that out, and that big coward removed the Putin award from his printed biography in Chicago, and from his website. He hid it from view, he does not want the public to know. But he has no intention of returning the award. Coward.
‘I’ve been to so many shows and had the honor of starring in so many premieres’
A recital concert is neither show nor premiere. Her agent (I think no one harbors any delusions who wrote the statement) may not cringe at calling opera performances and recitals ‘show’, but I do. Then again, what we see on La Scala stage these days looks more and more like Hollywood B-movie circus, so perhaps it’s appropriate. What premieres would that be? Hardly anyone writes opera these days. The agent probably means productions, with which we’re back to circus. I have a vague notion that four or five out of seven were indeed new productions, one of them being for Vojna i mir.
Given her high-profile return, I’d have advised her to select a PR person with a mastery of English to write the blurbs. This one is just hack amateurish.
U talk rubbish!
It should have consequences for Dominique Meyer.
How cruel and dividing is his behavior?! Netrebko is a strong supporter a lifetime long for Putin.
She is a absolut opportunist, saying what is necessary to make money.
The Mayor of Milano should forbid to do so.
I totally agree with you ! I couldn’t say better. It’s money that counts for her! I hope the Milano Mayor opens his eyes too ! People will never forget her former activities with Putin !!
You have your facts wrong. As for $$, Ms. Netrebko is and a very well paid artist for over 20 years
‘Ms. Netrebko is and a very well paid artist for over 20 years’
So was Gergiev, for a considerable longer period of time than AN, but the millions he had didn’t stop him from enriching himself some more by embezzling funds from his own charity. Plenty of companies used to donate, both Russian and foreign. Some people are of the opinion you can never have too much money.
Of course it’s about $$, don’t be naive, or if you like to be naive, don’t ask others to share your naivete. Piano recitals are the best money making machine for a performer because the performer trousers the entire sum from ticket sales, paying the pianist a pittance, the agent his percents, and the house their lease. For an opera performance you need several performers, chorus, orchestra, conductor, costumes, sets, stage hands. For a piano recital, you need one performer and one pianist. Glad to be allowed to explain the basics to you.
Your facts are incorrect.Ms. Netrebko is not a Putin supporter. She is a world famous opera star of enormous talent.
Dear Jane, I see you love facts. So do I, such coincidence! How about a little test? Let’s test your ear and opera knowledge. Let me upload just soundtrack, no image, and let’s see if you can identify dear Anna from a bunch of sopranos with similar timbre and exhibiting the same vocal deficiencies. Dear Anna’s, with her enormous talent, should be easily identifiable, shouldn’t she, particularly to an expert like yourself?
Kudos to La Scala. Banning artists on the basis of what they have or have not said has been the prerogative of totalitarian regimes. Through reengaging Netrebko, La Scala is upholding the Western values and proving we are different from Putin. Arts above politics.
“upholding the Western values”. I prefer human values.
Very well said – from a fellow pianist. As Netrebko did receive a previous medal presented by Putin abd still gas a Russian passport, it is very difficult for her to explicitly denounce Putin. She has now denounced the war three times, and has become almost a traitor in her in own country now.
“ She has now denounced the war three times, and has become almost a traitor in her in own country now.”
Oh please… It’s a scam to give exactly this kind of plausible deniability. It obviously worked pretty great.
@David
You are mistaken, ‘Pianist’ isn’t a pianist. His musical education is zero and, by his own admission in the comment section of another NL post, he is here to muddle the political waters. But I am pleased to see he has paid attention to my advice and dropped the clichés ‘Russophilia’ and ‘life is hard’ from his writing. There was a third cliché which I forgot – life is, more than anything, short, and memory shouldn’t be burdened with some agitprop’s clichés.
You seem to remember my cliches quite well, though, Dear Guest!
Without stooping to personal sparring with someone who is as dogmatic as you, I would like to assure you that my musical education credentials are quite ample and distinguished. I do not feel compelled to list them here, as this is a democratic forum for everyone. And also because credentials don’t necessarily ensure moral or professional rectitude. Nor am I being hired by you to reveal them. However, please note that your own musical expertise remains as anonymous and questionable as everyone else’s on this forum and, to the best of my understanding, no one has requested that you supply your own resume to substantiate your numerous, unrelenting attacks on those who think differently from you. 🙂
Well said
It seems that the West is growing tired of this war, asking Ukraine to surrender to appease putin and russia, and welcoming back nightingales of putin’s murderous regime. Yesterday BBC had no materials about this war on its main page (for the first time since the war started), today netrebko serenades Italians, and Germany questions whether self-defense is a moral response to violence and genocide. Business as usual already???
And I thought that the BBC, particularly Radio 3, were too quick to play Russian music again, even Rimsky-Korsakov, after the war in Ukraine started. Although, in some ways, art should be above politics. But, of course, I do feel for you and other Ukrainians.
Many of us in the West never had any appetite for getting involved in this armed conflict in the first place, and are appalled at our hypocritical governments (hypocritical in that they have initiated far worse illegal invasions in recent years) for fomenting this conflict over the last several years (there is no doubt that the West has played a significant role in facilitating Nazi militias and industrial-scale money laundering in Ukraine, a country where the 2nd-largest parliamentary party was summarily banned… very democratic, right?), and continuing to send weapons to an active conflict zone indiscriminately (many of these weapons will end up in the hands of criminal gangs and thugs all over Europe).
It is indeed heartbreaking that the vested interests of the military-industrial complex have militated to protract this dreadful armed conflict (weapons manufacturers are doing very well financially out of this situation). But it is very heartening to see that powerful cultural institutions in the West are finally starting to desist from the neo-McCarthyist banning of artists on the basis of their nationality and/or political views.
I’m curious where the U.S. Congress just got $40 billion to dedicate to the war. Of course I suspect much of it will go to U.S. arms manufacturers/suppliers so everybody’s happy.
It’s a disgrace. The “thoughts and prayers” and endless excuses from my country (Germany) are a disgrace. Scholz is disgrace.
There cannot be business as usual with Russia until they withdraw completely from Ukrainian territory. Russians who oppose Putin flee the country. Those who don’t stay. Let them perform in Russia and North Korea.
We’re going to have to get used to it, and I’m not saying that’s good, nice, or fair. She will also perform again in other places, where it’s better to let some grass grow over the matter now. The same goes for Currentzis and his musicAeterna. It’s just normal in our times. Our world is spinning so fast that you can’t tie people to any serious issue for more than a few months, because attention spans are fading much faster these days and everyone is looking for new issues to get artificially upset and outraged about. When the war no longer dominates the news headlines, same happened by the way to 9/11, the financial crisis of 2008 and also Covid, there will be other issues to deal with, some of which are already happening now. Leading psychologists say we have already become accustomed to the suffering in Ukraine, just as we have become accustomed for years to the fact that 50,000 children die every day in Africa from hunger. No one writes about that either, because our Western society just doesn’t give a damn. And that’s exactly why we’re are not going to defeat climate change, because most people just aren’t interested in it, and with every increasing disaster report, they close their eyes even more instead of facing the truth.
Could that possibly be due to the fact that increasing numbers of people are recognizing the truth, namely that “every increasing disaster report” is a bold-faced LIE?
You had me until you mentioned “climate change”. This is such a dishonest term and should be consigned to the rubbish bin. If the people who are concerned, protested about de-forestation, air polution, ocean plastics etc. then it would be an honest discussion, but there is too much to be gained by individuals, by promoting a new religion.
“we’re are not going to defeat climate change”, because it’s an oxymoron.
The climate has always been changing,- freezing in the little ice ages of 1690-1870, much warmer than today 1000 years ago when the Vikings farmed Greenland and discovered America, and again much warmer than today in 1st century AD (as proved by roman grape vines on the Scottish borders).
Human beings didn’t ever affect anything least of all of a trace gas 0.04% of the atmospheric inventory or during the Jurassic-Cretaceous period when it was 4-5 x higher than today.
If you can stop talking nonsense it might not invalidate all the other claims you make.
It was more honest when it was called, “global warming.”
It would be more honest to call some people’s head’s filling pudding.
I remember the good old days when only geeks and scientists could use the internet. Now it’s porn and climate crisis deniers. Maybe there’s a correlation here. Did you get your brains fcked out? That would explains things.
And this is why I hate people.
We all know that James Jorden from Parterre would be fawning over her return if New York institutions decide to rehabilitate this pitch-challenged pariah to its concert halls.
He and his biases are simply confounding: that he would slavishly worship at the feet of the mediocre Netrebko regardless of her odious views and actions, while viciously calling Elina Garanca a misogynistic idiot in a recent blog post for a MeToo interview.
Yes he would be. The only surprise is that he no longer controls a claque who echo his deluded babble. His posts attempting to excuse and promote Netrebko and those attacking Garanca and Monastyrska received zero traction. Thankfully, Gelb seems to have put such a firm stake in the ground that I don’t think that will change at the Met or at major houses in the US.
Have you seen the lunatic stuff he posts on social media? Nutter!
And what about italians? Those who bought tickets to see her? ( don t know how much they hear)
so many lies and unsincerity! It says a lot about italians.
Seems what matter for them is the russian money
Those Italians who bought the tickets are the idiots, who want to “hear” a singer whose voice has lost the shine already !!
I don’t like her singing or her persona either, but the review of the Paris recital is glowing. So, either the critic is deaf, or she got better.
If you mean the operawire review, that one smacks of put up job. The reviewer is practically unknown – he wrote just three reviews for operawire almost three years ago. His profile says he’s based in San Francisco and Lisbon. Serious critics don’t review recitals as a rule – recitals are known love fests, nothing to see here folks. No reason for him to travel all the way to Paris to review a recital concert unless he was paid handsomely for it, or if he is a fan. Would you buy an expensive ticket for the recital of a performer you don’t appreciate? No you wouldn’t. Looks like somebody is spending big money on this – first for Agresta to fall ‘ill’ so providentially right after singing with Yusif in Milan, then the ‘review’ of the Monte Carlo performance, the ‘review’ of the Paris recital, and Meyer’s ‘urging’.
No it’s not up to her !it’s up to the people who don’t let her .because she is Russian but she is a great number 1 of soprano in the world ! Go Anna love U ❤️
What a complete nonsense you’re writing. What Russian money do Italians gain from seeing that performance? People want to see a performance. That’s it. They were told she’s good ( standards considerably declined ,no doubt) and they get tickets for the show. Politics have nothing to do with it.
This hypocrisy cannot be topped !! I only say Karma. Yes, Mr.Meyer should be fired ! I have no doubt who wrote the article- because we all know what languages AN utters! She IS a supportive of Putin and still will be ! Never trust one whose manners are primitive, who is unpolite including colleagues! Karma !
Netrebko will have her legacy tarnished in history, as was Elizabeth Schwatzopf’s who continued to perform in Nazi Germany and Austria during World War 2.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-history-composers-and-performers-biographies/elisabeth-schwarzkopf
“On January 1, 1992, Queen Elizabeth II, of England, dubbed Schwarzkopf Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.” That’s 47 years after the conclusion of WWII. The Queen had had 47 years to think about awarding this honor, and it appears that Schwartzkopf’s reputation wasn’t too tarnished in her eyes at the time the honor was bestowed…
I have a better suggestion. After firing Mr. Meyer, why not cancel the entire audience of that concert? How dare they brazenly defy the modern-day inquisition by turning out to hear her performance? I say, get their names and fire each who has a job. The next step would be firing anyone who knew they would attend the concert and didn’t stop them. The more we cancel, the sooner the war will stop.
I can’t wait to her her “first piano recital”! All-Russian repertoire perhaps?
I am glad Ms. Netrebko is performing at La Scala again. She has condemned Russia for their actions three times. She has been labeled by Russia a traitor and called an enemy of the state.Anyone who has ever lived in a Dictatorship, and Russia is certainly that, knows that her entire family could be arrested or worse. My husband came to the USA from a Dictatorship as a child, but some of his relatives still lived there and were imprisoned and one died in prison for practicing religion in his own home. The country had outlawed religion. I would challenge anyone to ask someone who has emigrated from a dictatorship if they think Ms. Netrebko should criticize Putin in any way.
Jane, you’re one of kind. How many people here have told you that AN lives in Austria with her family, her sister lives in Denmark, and her parents are deceased? Yet you ignore uncomfortable truths and write the same old drivel anew. Who has called AN an enemy of the state in Russia? Have you smoked something strong? There was only the cancellation of a concert in Novosib. Curiously enough, that particularly concert had never been on her schedule before the cancellation. The ‘cancellation’ was touted but not the concert itself. Don’t you find this dubious?
Moral ambiguity and all, she seems to have made a great comeback in Paris.
If you mean the operawire review, that one smacks of put up job. The reviewer is practically unknown – he wrote just three reviews for operawire almost three years ago. His profile says he’s based in San Francisco and Lisbon. Serious critics don’t review recitals as a rule – recitals are known love fests, nothing to see here folks. No reason for him to travel all the way to Paris to review a recital concert unless he was paid handsomely for it, or if he is a fan. Would you buy an expensive ticket for the recital of a performer you don’t appreciate? No you wouldn’t. Looks like somebody is spending big money on this – first for Agresta to fall ‘ill’ so providentially right after singing with Yusif in Milan, then the ‘review’ of the Monte Carlo performance, the ‘review’ of the Paris recital, and Meyer’s ‘urging’.
And Miss Piggy sings again!
It’s a scandal! Had she at least distanced herself from that war criminal Putin? Has she condemned him?
Netrebko’s unabashed support of Putin’s conquest of Crimea can no more be undone than the ringing of a bell. Everything she has said since is self-promotional and hypocritical. While I have admired her voice performing as other characters, the part she is now playing as herself makes for a performance that is just not believable. These contrary positions though can be reconciled if she is willing to be branded as a shameful opportunist.
I liked the “modern-day inquisition ” expression. I would add hypocrisy..
I don’t remember, if any artist in order to sing opera was asked to condemn Bush, when he started a war in Iraq or NATO, when they bomb Yugoslavia.
Thank you for your attention, my pacifistic opera lovers.