Protest Against Anna Netrebko’s Performance in Berlin Opera House: Ukrainian Activists Demand Boycott

Protesters came with Ukrainian flags and placards decorated with the inscriptions “Don’t give the stage to Netrebko”, “Attention! Russian culture is the sponsor of war”, “Chekists at the wall”.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksiy Makeyev, also took part in the protest.

On September 15, Netrebko’s performance in the opera “Macbeth” took place at the Berlin Opera House.

Netrebko faced boycotts of his concerts in the West after Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine began last February. About a month after the war began, Netrebko publicly condemned the war and said he had only met Putin a few times in his life.

Verdi’s opera “Macbeth”, in which Anna Netrebko plays the role of Lady Macbeth, will be performed three times in September. Despite an online petition, which has so far been signed by more than 37,000 people, as well as open letters from Ukrainian activists and doubts expressed by local politicians, the management of the Berlin Opera decided not to cancel the performance. A day earlier, the director of the Berlin Opera announced that, in his opinion, Anna Netrebko has taken a pro-Ukrainian position and is entitled to a “second chance”. The intention to boycott the opera was announced by the mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, and the Berlin senator for cultural affairs, Joe Chalo.

2023-09-16 07:00:00
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