Today, the head of Ukraine’s Office of the President Andriy Yermak insisted that world-famous Russian soprano Anna Netrebko must be confined to Moscow, and not allowed to perform anywhere in the world. He explained: “Now it is very important that Russian figures do not have the opportunity to earn money in the civilized world and continue to bring Russian culture to Europe and the West.” She is a “servant of the regime” in Moscow. “Netrebko should not perform in Europe. The only place for her and others like her now is the opera in Moscow. I call on all concerned and our allies to react.”
However, in February 2025 Russian soprano Anna Netrebko is scheduled to sing at a fundraiser event in the U.S., for the Palm Beach Opera. According to the New York Times, Netrebko has not sung in the U.S. since she performed at a fundraiser for the New York Met Opera in 2019.
The general manager of the New York Met, Peter Gelb and his Canadian-Ukrainian wife Keri-Lynn Wilson, have worked to keep Netrebko off any opera stage across the Western world since the beginning of NATO’s Ukraine war against Russia. Meanwhile, Wilson has been staging over-the-top performances of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” Symphony, where she has removed Schiller’s text “Joy” (“Freude”) and replaced it with “Slava”—an homage to the “Slava Ukraina” hail of Hitler’s collaborators in World War II Ukraine.
Gelb did not shun Netrebko immediately, but rather tried at first to force her to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. When Netrebko refused to be weaponized by Gelb’s propaganda, Gelb broke her Met contract and launched a public campaign against her, including accusing Netrebko of having a “close association with Putin.”
Netrebko’s general manager Miguel Esteban has written “fact sheets” and letters to refute the charges, and in 2023, Netrebko won a $200,000 arbitration ruling for her complaint filed against the Met for canceling 13 performances. She also took the Met to court in 2023, where she is seeking an additional $360,000 for discrimination against her because she is a Russian, for issuing “defamatory” statements about her in the media, and for breach of contract. “Anna Netrebko will be happy to consider an invitation to return to the Metropolitan Opera—after the departure of its current general director,” wrote Esteban in a recent email.
Netrebko has been performing over the recent months at opera houses across Europe, including in Paris, Milan, and Berlin. At some of these engagements there were small demonstrations outside, but always thunderous, standing ovations inside and glowing reviews in the press. James Barbato, the new leader of the Palm Beach Opera, said: “She is a cultural icon, and her long-awaited return to the U.S. is not to be missed.” Netrebko said: “I am honored to be lending my voice to the Palm Beach Opera’s annual gala, [and] I am excited to spend time in this beautiful community.”
