Anna Netrebko Sues The Met

“I am opposed to this war,” said the superstar Russian soprano Anna Netrebko on February 26, 2022, just two days after Russian forces invaded Ukraine. She repeated that sentiment many times in the weeks and months that followed, but that wasn’t good enough for New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where she had performed in starring roles to near-unanimous acclaim since 2002. Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, demanded that Netrebko go a step further and denounce Russian president Vladimir Putin, variously claiming that she had been his “close personal ally,” a “huge Putin supporter,” “inextricably associated with Putin,” and “in lockstep politically and ideologically with Putin.” Gelb vowed that the Met would not employ artists who failed to denounce Putin (though it appears he has only selectively applied this rule). “We can no longer engage with artists or institutions that support Putin or are supported by him,” Gelb announced, “not until the invasion and killing has been stopped, order has been restored and restitutions have been made.” Gelb later extended these conditions: “until the war is won by Ukraine.”