“Life in Europe and the opportunity to perform in European concert halls seem to be more important than the destiny of the homeland,” the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater said, adding that “our country is full of talent and will be replaced by others with a clear civic position.”
It has already been reported that Netrebko has expressed pro-Kremlin views for many years, but in 2014 it posed the flag of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” of Russian-backed militant gangs.
On Wednesday, less than five weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an English-language post was posted on Facebook stating “strong condemnation of the war in Ukraine” and claiming to be thinking of its victims and their families.
She emphasized that she was not a member of any political party and was not affiliated with any of Russia’s leaders, adding that she had not received financial support from the Russian government and was paying her taxes in Austria.
“I admit to regret that my past actions and statements may have been misinterpreted. In fact, the President [Vladimiru] “I have met Putin a few times in my life,” Netrebko continued.
The singer, who announced a break in her artistic activity in early March, announced that she would resume performing “originally in Europe” at the end of May.
Meanwhile, the director of the Metropolitan Opera, Peter Gelbs, has admitted that, despite the position expressed by the opera star in public, he is not ready to change his decision to terminate the agreement with Nettrebko yet. “If Anna shows in the long run that she is completely and completely distant from Putin, I will be ready to talk,” he added.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine again on February 24, the New York Metropolitan Opera, where Nettrebko has become a prima donna for the past 20 years, has suspended all cooperation with him indefinitely. Upcoming performances have also canceled the Munich and Zurich operas.
After the start of the war, the concert scheduled for April 7 by Nettrebko and Yusif Evazov at the Latvian National Opera was also canceled.
