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Anna Netrebko at a press conference in Milan: the soprano wants to return to European stages from the end of May
Photo: Simona Chioccia / IPA / IMAGO
The Russian opera diva Anna Netrebko has expressly condemned the "war against Ukraine".
In a statement distributed on Wednesday via lawyer Christian Schertz in Berlin, Netrebko wrote that her thoughts are "with the victims of this war and their families."
At the same time, she declared that she was not "a member of any political party" or "affiliated with any leader in Russia" and that she had "only met President Vladimir Putin a handful of times in my entire life."
Netrebko was criticized for not clearly distancing herself from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The opera singer had spoken out publicly against the Ukraine war, but not against the Russian president.
Netrebko celebrated her 50th birthday last year in the Kremlin
Several opera houses had therefore ended their collaboration with the opera singer, including the Metropolitan Opera and the Berlin State Opera.
As a result, the soprano came under increasing pressure and declared that she would »retire from concert life until further notice«.
Most recently, her management in Berlin had also separated from her.
In her statement distributed on Wednesday, Netrebko announced that she wanted to resume planned opera and concert performances from the end of May, “initially in Europe”.
The singer did not give any more details.
According to the singer's website, performances with pianist Malcolm Martineau at La Scala in Milan and in the Grande salle Pierre Boulez in Paris are planned for the end of May.
Originally, the singer was supposed to appear in April with the Berlin Philharmonic at the Schauspielhaus Baden-Baden.
At least the theater had not ruled out future work with the soprano.
ime/AFP/dpa