Berlin State Opera
Protest announced against Netrebko’s appearance in Berlin
Soprano Anna Netrebko should be allowed to sing in the State Opera again. photo
© Armin Weigel/dpa
The Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden wants to resume work with the Russian singer Anna Netrebko. There is now protest against this.
Against the appearance of the Austrian-Russian singer Anna Netrebko at the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden, numerous organizations and signatories – including those from science and culture – have announced their protest in an open letter.
The 51-year-old is cast in the role of Lady Macbeth in Giuseppe Verdi’s “Macbeth” this Friday. She came under criticism for her alleged closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the start of the Ukraine war.
A demonstration is planned in front of the State Opera if Netrebko’s appearances are not canceled, it said in the published letter to Governing Mayor Kai Wegner, Senator for Culture Joe Chialo (both CDU) and opera director Matthias Schulz under the title “No stage for Anna Netrebko! “.
It will be Netrebko’s first appearance in Berlin since Russia invaded Ukraine. “This is an artist performing in a publicly funded theater in Berlin who has appeared repeatedly and explicitly in the past as a supporter of the dictatorial and inhumane regime of current Russia.” She neither distanced herself from this nor apologized for it.
State Opera refers to their statement
The State Opera’s collaboration “with such an artist” is a lack of solidarity and represents an affront to all people who want a clear positioning of German cultural workers against Russia’s imperial war. Art and culture are never apolitical, and Netrebko is an example of this.
The State Opera referred to its most recent statement. It is important to differentiate between before and after the outbreak of war, it said. Since then, Netrebko has not accepted any engagements in Russia. Both through her statement and through her actions since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, she has taken a clear position and distanced herself, and this should be acknowledged. “Without a clear positioning of the artist, further collaboration for the Staatsoper Unter den Linden was and would not be sustainable.”