The Met bans Netrebko over two seasons
UncategorizedStatement from the Met:
Not complying with the Met’s condition that she repudiate her public support for Vladimir Putin while he wages war on Ukraine, soprano Anna Netrebko has withdrawn from her upcoming Met performances in Puccini’s Turandot this April and May, as well as the run of Verdi’s Don Carlo next season. “It is a great artistic loss for the Met and for opera,” said Met General Manager Peter Gelb. “Anna is one of the greatest singers in Met history, but with Putin killing innocent victims in Ukraine, there was no way forward.”
Netrebko will be replaced in Turandot by soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska. A replacement for the role of Elisabeth de Valois in the 2022–23 performances of Don Carlo will be announced at a later date.
pictured: The Ukrainian Monastyrska this week in a hug with the Russian Gubanova
“Before you fire ME, I quit on you!” And, sorry Gelb, but your Anna is hardly one of the great singers in Met history. Or any other theater’s for that matter.
so true and shows how little he understands but it’s the same like all over – Pereira etc
what mediocre people running opera companies nowadays
There you go, the witch hunt is complete. Everybody happy now? Feeling better about yourselves? Good! Now a little rest before the high wears off, and then back to business and we move onto the next scapegoat. Anything to forget our own failures and shortcomings am I right!
#goodvibes #woke #selfcare
You’re lucky the Putin sympathizers aren’t banned from here. We all make mistakes but very few of us have supported and benefited from murderous dictators. Especially at a time of war. I realize a lack of moral compass makes it hard to see that.
Perhaps you should watch Ukraine war news for a change, and get a taste of reality. I mean, real news, not Putin’s propaganda on Russian telly.
Thank you, I watch TV a lot, for writing exactly what I’ve been thinking. Very well said.
No, you are not right, and no, we are not happy. We will be happy when the war ends, _if_ it ends before we are all transformed to dust. Your priority may be your favorite singer having to sit out two seasons, while living comfortably in Russia, ours is the war costing hundreds of lives every day. For someone who watches TV a lot, you are singularly divorced of reality. Or perhaps you are just an egomaniac. https://news.yahoo.com/call-putin-frances-macron-reportedly-160126964.html
Just wanted to mention that the singer in question isn’t sitting out the war in Russia, she is comfortable in Austria, where she also has citizenship. Total hypocrite, since her quickly deleted post berated her critics who were comfortably away from the war…which is exactly her situation.
I think you watch tv too much, especially the wrong kind
At least your name is correct. And too much of a certain kind of TV, too, it seems.
‘You’re either or us or against us’ -it’s as simple as that. She places her lovely bum firmly on the fence.
What state pressures may she be put under? Personal and threats to friends and family perhaps?
I was never a real admirer of Netrebko, as a voice or as a human being. I also have a natural aversion to any performer supported by a big publicity machine (their own, their agency’s, and/or their presenters).
This action by the Met is, in my thinking, a clear case of “better late than never,” but I view it mainly as a public relations move with a strong aroma of hypocrisy. After all, Netrebko’s political views must have been known to the Met a month ago, and a year ago, and five seasons ago, but that didn’t stop the Met from using her regularly. (Too regularly, in my opinion.) But now they seem to perceive her as a PR liability, and so overboard she goes. However, I wouldn’t bank on this situation becoming permanent if the heat-of-the-moment abates.
I have the same view of all the corporations now saying they won’t do business in Russia. They were willing to do business in Russia the month before last, and the year before last, and the decade before last, knowing full well the nature of Putin’s authoritarianism. Just PR and hypocrisy, in my opinion. The test will be how soon they resume business-as-usual after this war.
“these grapes are too sour…”
How about your feelings of all the businesses that “do business” with the US? Surely the US’ crimes are far greater over the past 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years than Russia’s? Try having some integrity
In which world are you living? Surely not in the world we are living.
Or are you a blind Putin admirer or Netrebko admirer.
Falls under the category of two wrongs never make a right. History is loaded with should have/could have’s.
If AN is one of the greatest singers in Met history, poor Met. It could also be that Peter Gelb has a short memory.
By the way, La Scala has given Gergiev’s performances to Timur Zangiev, a Russian conductor at Stanislavsky, and guest conductor at Mariinsky and Bolshoi.
The MET gave one of her roles to a Ukrainian soprano…
I’ve never had the sense that Gelb spends his spare time listening to restored recordings of Destinn, Galli-Curci, and Ponselle. I’m sure he can drop names from far back, but most of what he really knows about is the singers who have been there in his time as GM and a few decades before.
Even calling Netrebko one of the greatest artists in the Met’s history since 1950 would be extravagant, but whatever. He was giving her an air kiss after the drop kick. I’m sure he’s parting with her reluctantly, and I don’t doubt she sold more tickets than some other sopranos he tried to turn into New York’s latest vocal sensation.
She used to be kind of pretty, she had a good voice, and the artistry of an averagely good student in her second year of studies. On top of that, she never quite learned a foreign language properly, and self-admittedly studies her parts “like a parrot”. But all this is ancient history, especially the looks and the voice. How sad that it took a war to get her off Turandot.
She called her critics “human shits.” Well, this “human shit” says good riddance to this less-than-human trash. I hope she never appears on a stage again.
It looks as if she may have been right about you, James Weiss, judging by that last comment.
“less than human”? Have we learned nothing from history in the name of hypocritical righteousness?
“I hope she never appears on a stage again.” Nothing wrong with your distaste. But don’t advocate that I should not be allowed to see her ever again.
” … a great artistic loss…”
Uh, I think rather the end of what potentially could have been a great career had it been managed better a decide or so before. “Anna Bolena” took her to her limits (also due to Garanca), but going into “Macbeth” and “Aida” was simply a ruinous choice. The girl had potential when her heaviest role was Adina in “L’elisir d’amore” – basta!
Wait…it’s not a witch hunt? It is a witch hunt when people say the opposite of the truth:
Peter Gelb:
“We’re not undertaking an artistic witch hunt,” he said. “We’re not interviewing or interrogating any artists about their positions.”
Subtlety is certainly lost on people who name themselves as you have. The Met was only requiring that artists who made public support of Putin (a war criminal) in the past retract their previous support. If Netrebko had stayed out of politics in the past, there would be nothing to discuss or retract.
“”Representatives of the Opera have responded saying that The Met isn’t obliged to share personal views of artists that perform on its stage and that they are proud Netrebko sings there.”
–2019, in response to a call to cancel her contracts over her supporting the terrorist organization responsible for the downing of the Malaysian airliner MH17, as well as for a 9-month war in eastern Ukraine led with overt Russian assistance.
https://euromaidanpress.com/2014/12/19/metropolitan-opera-proudly-supports-terrorism-supporting-anna-netrebko/
So… when Susan Graham and Denyce Graves sang at Bush’s 2 inauguration, that was ok?
What about Chinese artists who haven’t publicly disavowed their government’s treatment of Uyghurs?
If Classical music orgs want to make these actions a precondition of employment, fine. But you can’t pick and choose so randomly. This hypocrisy is disgusting. I don’t give a shit about Netrebko. I care about these gross double standards and the mob mentality. Fk this war, Fk Putin, and Fk everyone descending to their basest instincts.
In the US an inauguration is celebrated as a peaceful transition of power and people of both parties participate. (At least until the 2020 election/Jan 6 2021 attack, which is still being investigated.)
It is completely different than endorsing a candidate and and posing with the flag of violent separatists, who are waging a war and who shot down a passenger plane full of innocent passengers. That donation and photo was used (by Putin) to signal Netrebko’s support of Putin’s aggressive policies in Ukraine. And Netrebko has refused to apologize or refute that photo. If it was really a mistake, she can say so and apologize. She has not.
What an obnoxious organization ! ! !
It’s not WHAT they do. It’s the way they operate, the TONE.
“Anna is one of the greatest singers in the history of the Met” Hyperbole much! This is the same man who compared her Aida to that of Leontyne Price!!! And Netrebko to Maria Callas, or was it Placido, in which case he can claim early dementia.
Unfortunately, it took a war to get this overblown, overrated, washed up, “non-political” singer, out of opera. Good riddance. Maybe, when the dust settles, the future of opera will look a little brighter. Now, if we could only do something about the fake tenor husband of hers. How low La Scala has fallen. Doing a sad face…
These pitiful guys got rid of Anna Netrebko after she had condemned the war because they didn t feel enough “repentance” in her words/acts. ( But “how much it s enough ?” as George Michael sings).The splendid Russian diva, “Putin s puppet” as various nationalist trolls had been calling her before, should have knelt&crawled & begged for forgiveness and only thus, maybe, maybe, it s not certain at all, but maybe she could have been exempted from crime… She refused the whole ritual. I love her for that even more.
Is that so bloomenshka;
Well it s your opinion, not ours
Liudmyla Monastyrska gave us a very good Ada and an excellent Tosca at The Met. I’d rather hear her than Netrebko any day.
sorry for the typo…”Aida”, not “Ada”…
International cancel culture; more abusive by the day. Gergiev, Netrebko, Matsuev are not the enemy.
Let’s cancel all US artists who do not publicly condemn the US invasions of Irak, Afghanistan, Lybia, Yemen…!
Do so, Franz, after you rise high on the political totem pole in Irak, Afghanistan, etc., and can find an US artist who wants to perform in Irak, Afghanistan, etc. Until then, take a soporific and go to bed.
How many times do I have to explain that a nation _doesn’t_ sanction their own artists? When there’s a war going on, you sanction artists supporting the “other side”, not your own side. Even people with half a brain understand this.
Berlin has also dropped her.
https://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en/veranstaltungen/turandot.10340/#event-52893
I wonder what happens to American artists the next time the US engages in some military action. Will they be allowed to perform as long as they denounce their President?
“some military action”? Didn’t the Kremlin instruct you to say “special operation”?
Let’s hope we never have to hear Mr. Netrebko’s out-of -tune shouting as well.
Let her go back to her original day job as a cleaning lady. Something she has a real talent for. Her singing is 2nd rate. Maybe she can take some time to read Russian history and see what happened to Czar Nicholas and his family and many of his minions.
For the record: Netrebko accepted that cleaning job at the Mariinsky theater when she was a student, not because she really needed it (she came from a fairly wealthy family – by the standards of the time and education in Russia was and still is free) but because she wanted to be at the Mariinsky. And it worked out, as she was hanging around the theater she met Gregiev. And we know how it went on, she was discovered, she did not even have to finish her studies.
It’s done, all the major non_Russian houses have cut ties with Netrebko. So going after singers announced as replacements would be mean-spirited and petty, right? Especially when the replacement is an artist suffering the invasion of her home country. But apparently that the way things are done on a prominent opera-chat and review website: A moderator posted “Judge for yourself, ladies and gentlemen” accompanied by recent videos of both sopranos. I hope no one responds to this nasty little poll.
That repugnant comment was made by Parterre’s “editor” and comes as no shock given the lengths to which he will champion the caca coming out of Netrebko’s mouth, musical or otherwise. This crosses the line though–no need to sling mud at an artist hailing from a beleaguered country, but yes, he went there. What a sad excuse of a person.
Well, he calls himself “La Cieca” – couldn’t have picked a better nickname. I have often wondered if he is really that crazy about her or if someone is paying him to praise her to the skies and throw mud at other artists.
Thankfully almost no one responded to that vile poll on Parterre. And among those that did, most comments agreed that Anna is unemployable and clearly saw her explanation(s) as woefully inadequate.
I wouldn’t take Jorden seriously as an authority on opera or music. Parterre is just a gossip blog, and now that his pet Putin supporter’s American career is over none of us have to endure his dumb ravings about Netrebko’s unmusical effluvia anymore.
Poor Monastyrska. Good to know that the readers of Parterre showed more decency than him.
Whether folks here like her voice , persona or statements Netrebko has been great for box office in many opera houses , above all the Met. The Met has been able to sell out and present a wide range of repertoire due to her longterm engagement with the house. Therefore I am not surprised by the tone of theit anouncement.
She has condemned the war , but not directly repudiated Putin.
I am pleased that musicians and structures everywhere are taking a stand on the Russian government’s act of aggression on the Ukrainian people.
However, opera houses need to be careful with their actions and reasoning at this time , because there are sadly other dictators in this world . Have their national artists been banned from performing for not repudiating them? Going by the reasoning given here there are others who might have been removed from contracts , banned . Who decides and on what basis ?
Netrebko has decided to withdraw from performing so she is not really newsworthy now as far as I am concerned , but the future approach of orchestras , opera houses etc to international situations like this will need thinking through to make it coherent and more effective if it is to have impact as a form of protest or sign of disaprobation.
“Anna is one of the greatest singers in Met history”. Really???
Does the Met also require that all singers repudiate their public support for Biden, Obama, Bush, Clinton et al for their international warmongering? Just curious if this is merely a political stunt or what…
Evidence please.
Can you explain what is your point? Did Clinton invade a sovereign state and bombed civilians just because they didn t want to be annexed to USA? Did Clinton menaced the world with the atomic armament?
What are you talking about?
The US should never say anything about using nuclear weapons when it is the only country in the world that has ever used these weapons against another country. Putin is horrible, but most of the US former presidents have not precisely been Mother Theresa.
All US American artist should had been forced to make public statements about the US invasions of Irak, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Libya (among many others) or risk their performances be cancelled.
Both US and Russian invasions are disgusting, and examples of some of the worst things the humanity is capable of.
I am tired how many times I have read this daft “argument” on this site. Why would a nation sanction their own artists? When there’s a war going on, you sanction artists supporting the “other side”, not your own side. Even people with half a brain would understand this. Unfair? Perhaps. But then war is always unfair. Do you think it is fair to kill children in the Ukraine right now? Putin shells even evacuation trains. But hey, all this senseless killing pales compared to the terrible unfairness “against” a singer who has double citizenship and is rolling in money, having to sit out two seasons?
Economic and arts sanctions are the only weapons that countries that do not want to engage in direct combat can use. But for some, their pet ideological nonsense is more important than civilians’ lives. After the war, if there is going to be an “after the war”, it’s back to business as usual, but the dead children, women and men won’t come back to life. What interesting priorities you keyboard warriors have. Your pet crusade and nothing else, people’s lives are secondary. You want your pet singer (who’s voice is nearly in shambles and vulgarity jumps the scale) to appear on the Met stage, so everything else, including senseless killing of children, is irrelevant to you. It’s enough to make one loath all the classical music “industry”, it is seemingly populated only by narcissists and entitled snowflakes.
While I very much agree with your post, online forums are places where it is tough to tell how many supporters line up for AN. Inevitably there are an avalanche of new posters, who may in fact be the same person. My own take is that the Netrebko-at-any-cost-and-any-crime crowd are very small, very vocal, and amplified by multiple identities.
This storm in a teacup organized by AN fans could have been avoided if the Met (and not only) had ditched her quietly years ago. She was past expiration date vocally, and more vulgar than ever in every other respect. The Met standards, these days…
So, basically, anyone who publicly doesn’t join the chorus repudiating Putin will be cancelled. It is not enough just not saying anything against the invasion of Ukraine: an artist, to continue being valid must make public a statement against the ongoing situation. Yes, Putin is a monster and what is happening in Ukraine is horrible, but can’t we just separate the artist from the person? What is next? All artist should manifest in favor of #metoo, in favor of Black Live Matters, in favour of gay marriage etc. or be cancelled?
Personally, I would not befriend someone who supports Russia’s actions, but we are talking personal opinions and preferences, and artists (and any other person!) should not be forced to make them public in order to continue working (or even having to give a different opinion).
“So, basically, _anyone_ who publicly doesn’t join the chorus repudiating Putin will be cancelled. It is not enough just not saying anything against the invasion of Ukraine: an artist, to continue being valid _must make public a statement_ against the ongoing situation.”
What a lively imagination you have. Proof?
There is something really disturbing about people’s priorities when in Ukraine civilians are being systematically targeted and killed by the Russian army, but keyboard freedom crusaders are lamenting that some rich Russians are out of Western work. The insensitivity is mind boggling.
Can you write a post without using the overused, misused and wrong-headed term cancelled? The only things that have been cancelled are the people who died and the towns destroyed in Putin’s very real attempt to “cancel” Ukraine independence and self-determination. If an employer ends a contract with someone, it just means they don’t want to work with them. It’s like a “divorce”. what was formerly associated is now disassociated and independent. But it still exists, so absolutely not “cancelled”.
What you are arguing is for entitlement; that some artists “entitled” to a contract with the Met? No, she/he/they are not. Are you “entitled” to hear your favorite soprano at your chosen venue? No. You might have to settle for her previous CDs or fly to places she is employable.
Only two season? We dont want to listen to her any more .
I saw many comments on Youtube of how cyber hack had helped many people catch their cheating spouse without any traces. I contact him via invisiblespyloop@gmail.com and give him a try to my greatest surprise he did an amazing job. I caught my wife’s with the aid of this genius using personal surveillance techniques, video taping, and photography to obtain proof of the infidelity. I showed my husband the proof, she was shocked and couldn’t know what to say. From that moment I wanted to quit our union but she started apologizing that i shouldn’t quit and promise me such act will not repeat itself.. you can also reach him if your funds is hanging in online trading platform like expert-option ,cal financial, Analyst , coinspot, Ctxprime and many more