"First, is it right for a prestigious British institution, the Royal Opera House, to be hiring Netrebko while the Ukraine war continues? The answer could in theory be yes, were she to repeat her opposition to the war, but on the current evidence it is no. Second, whether the hiring is right or wrong, what should now happen in the run-up to her premiere here on 11 September? Here, compromise is the least bad outcome for all involved."
"The case against Netrebko is that she is a highly prominent Russian who has praised Vladimir Putin in the past, accepted honours from the Russian state, and who, after Russia's first war with Ukraine in 2014, was photographed with a pro-Kremlin separatist flag. In 2022, opera houses around the world quickly dispensed with Netrebko's services when Putin's armies invaded Ukraine. The war was an existential threat not just to Ukraine, but to Europe and its values and it still is."
Anna Netrebko is scheduled to sing Tosca at the Royal Opera House in London despite controversy over her past praise for Vladimir Putin, acceptance of Russian state honours, and a 2014 photograph with a pro‑Kremlin separatist flag. Opera houses cut ties with Netrebko in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The central questions are whether it is right for a major British institution to hire her now, what should happen before her premiere on 11 September, and how far the arts should act as a proxy for politics. A compromise approach is presented as the least bad outcome. A trenchant letter opposing the hire was signed by more than 50 Ukrainian writers and artists and a cross‑party group of UK MPs.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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