A voice in defence of Anna Netrebko

The polemicist Stephen Pollard argues in the Spectator that Covent Garden was right to hire her.

... I review opera, and so I had a decision to take: should I remain true to my principles – I believe the fight to save Ukraine is the defining global issue of our time – and boycott the production myself? I decided that, at the very least, I would write an angry piece about the Royal Opera’s decision. This would be that piece.

But it’s now a very different piece, because I was wrong. As, too, are the signatories of the open letter. There is no reason whatsoever why Netrebko should be boycotted by the Royal Opera or any other company.

It is certainly right that artists who give succour to Putin and who support the invasion of Ukraine should not perform in the West. That’s why Valery Gergiev, for example, the former principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and, until the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, one of the most sought-after conductors in the world, has not worked outside Russia and its sphere of influence since then. Gergiev has always been – and, crucially, remains – an open and very vocal supporter of Putin.

It’s this brush with which Netrebko is being tarred. …

Questions are obviously begged by this. First, what more is it reasonable to expect her to say or do? She is an opera singer, not a politician or opinion leader. As she says, why should she be forced to take a public stance denouncing anyone when she is not in any way responsible for or even – according to her clear statements – supportive of them?

Full article here.

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