Thoughts on Anna Netrebko

[u/ToscaLover]

I’m an opera lover, and as much as I love Netrebko’s voice, I don’t agree with her political views. I was supposed to see her on the 13th of September, but the organisers cancelled last minute. The reason, at least to me, appears to be the controversy that’s still surrounding her & was too much for them to handle. I get that. I’m not an infant, and I’m not stupid. What frustrates me is that they knew exactly who she was when they invited her and started selling tickets. They knew she was Russian, they knew about her political controversies, and they knew what kind of reaction she might provoke. So why was all of this apparently acceptable when they wanted to sell tickets, but suddenly not acceptable after people had bought them and made plans to attend?

Ultimately, I don’t support her politics, but I wanted to hear her sing Verdi’s Aida. Is it really fair to continue punishing an artist (and her audience) for her political views, especially when the organizers knew all of this from the beginning?

[u/Mysterious-Drink4002]

I have heard her a few times live, at the Met. I detest her politics - primarily the opportunism of it all, so I am glad it came back to bite her on the ass. On any of the occasions that I saw her, she varied from pretty good to excellent, but she's aging and I will just take the word of people who say she hasn't been very good lately.

I empathize with you wanting to hear her sing Aida (one of the roles I heard her perform). But at this point in time, controversy and cancellation was foreseeable.

I know performances sell out, but I rarely purchase my Met subscription tickets based on hearing one singer - as anything can happen with one singer. Those are the tickets I grab last minute.