Anna Netrebko, the superstar soprano whose international career collapsed after the invasion of Ukraine due to her past support of Russia’s President Vladimir V. Putin, has been invited to sing at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in Monaco this month.
Ms. Netrebko was initially slated to sing the title role of Puccini’s “Turandot” at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in late April, but the company, like many in the West, parted ways with her over concerns she hadn’t managed to keep enough distance. take from Mr Putin after he started the war in Ukraine.
Instead, Ms. Netrebko will now appear in Monaco and sing the title role in another Puccini opera, “Manon Lescaut,” in four performances at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the company announced on Thursday. It will be her first appearances since the invasion began in late February, but she has other performances scheduled for later this spring.
“I am overjoyed to make my unexpected stage debut at the Monte Carlo Opera,” Ms Netrebko said in a statement. “It becomes even more special by performing with my husband, tenor Yusif Eyvazov, in the same Puccini masterpiece that marked our first meeting at the Opera of Rome in 2014.”
Ms. Netrebko has faced a spate of cancellations at leading opera houses. She once supported Putin’s re-election, and in 2014 she was photographed holding a flag used by Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine.
After initially denouncing the war, but not speaking to Mr Putin, Ms. Netrebko saw her commitments in the West evaporate. So last month Ms. Netrebko issued a new statement trying to distance herself from Mr Putin, saying that she had only met him a few times and that she was not “affiliated with any leader of Russia”. Her words sparked a backlash in Russia, with a theater in Novosibirsk, Siberia, canceling a performance and a high-ranking lawmaker denouncing her as a traitor.
Opéra de Monte-Carlo defended its decision to hire Ms Netrebko on Thursday, saying she had done enough to distance herself from the war.
“Anna Netrebko made a statement two weeks ago about the war and her relationship with Putin,” Christiane Ribeiro, an opera house spokeswoman, said in an email. “She has taken a firm stance against the war in Ukraine. As a result, she has been declared an ‘enemy of the fatherland’ by the speaker of the State Duma and a theater in Novosibirsk has canceled her performance.”
Opéra de Monte-Carlo described its decision as artistic, noting that Ms. Netrebko will replace Italian soprano Maria Agresta, who canceled due to illness.
In her statement, Ms Netrebko said: “I wish my friend and colleague Maria Agresta a full and speedy recovery.”
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“Our choice is artistic: we deeply regret that Maria Agresta had to cancel for health reasons, but we are happy that Anna Netrebko has accepted to sing these four performances of ‘Manon Lescaut’,” said Ms Ribeiro.
It is unclear whether Ms. Netrebko will succeed in reviving her career as a world traveler. The Met and leading opera houses in Zurich and Munich have refused to hire her, despite her efforts to distance herself from Mr Putin.
Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, said this month he would be willing to hold a conversation if Ms. Netrebko showed that she has “really and completely distanced herself from Putin in the long run.”
However, Ms Netrebko has managed to keep a number of agreements.
In May she gives recitals at the Philharmonie de Paris and at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. In July and August she will appear in Italy at the Arena di Verona Opera Festival, where she will appear in Verdi’s “Aida” and Puccini’s “Turandot”.
She will also appear at the Mariinsky Theater’s annual White Nights Festival this summer, according to recent reports in state news channels in Russia.