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Dozens of protesters have gathered outside the Royal Opera House to demonstrate against an eminent Russian opera singer nicknamed “Putin’s diva” who performed on the opening night of Tosca.
Anna Netrebko, 53, one of the world’s best-known sopranos, who draws full houses for her performances at leading opera houses globally, has denied being an ally of the Russian leader.
She was ostracised by most major opera houses in the months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, despite releasing a statement unequivocally condemning the conflict.
Netrebko, who has not performed in Russia since 2022, was given a People’s Artist award in 2008 by Vladimir Putin. The crowd of about 50 protesters congregated outside the central London venue included Natalia Filatova, 48, who was wrapped in the Ukrainian flag.
She told the Guardian: “I’ve been living in London for 21 years. I used to love the Royal Opera House and everything that they did but the decision is a disgrace. There are so many great opera singers, it doesn’t have to be a question. I think it’s a disgrace.
“I think it has damaged the image of the Royal Opera. I don’t understand how [this] theatre can be a royal theatre when this country has been supporting Ukraine since day one.”
Oleksandra Vietrova, 43, held a sign that read: “Behind the curtain, blood and tanks”. She said she attended because “unfortunately, all the polite communication didn’t bring any results”.
The protest finished with a tribute to Ukraine as demonstrators lit yellow candles and gave a rendition of the national anthem, Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy. Last month, more than 50 Ukrainian writers and artists, a cross-party group of UK MPs and former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark urged the Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) to drop Netrebko from its new London season, describing her as a “longtime symbol of cultural propaganda for a regime that is responsible for serious war crimes”.
In a letter, the group argued the RBO faced a “defining choice: between status and responsibility, between profit and values, between silence and conscience”, adding: “We urge you to remain, as you consistently have, on the ethical side of art – and of history.”
The RBO has said as a “singer’s house” it has a duty to showcase the greatest performers, adding that Netrebko has condemned the invasion.
A number of other major opera houses across Europe have featured the Russian soprano in the past two years. Her general manager, Miguel Esteban, said she had “never shown support for Russian separatists” and had condemned the war in three social media statements and two interviews. She had not returned to Russia since the full-scale invasion, he added.
In 2014 Netrebko made a donation to Donetsk’s opera house after Russia seized the city, and she was photographed holding the separatist flag of “Novorossiya” with a pro-Kremlin former Ukrainian politician. She later said did not understand what the flag meant.
Netrebko has said that she “acknowledges and regrets that past actions or statements of mine could have been misinterpreted”, and that she has only met Putin “a handful of times”.
Earlier this month the RBO pulled its production of Tosca at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv after almost 200 members signed an open letter criticising the organisation’s stance on Gaza.
