Anna Netrebko
Anna Netrebko is acclaimed as one of the greatest opera singers of all-time at the Metropolitan Opera, which is the foremost opera hall in the world. Netrebko was definitive in Tchaikovsky’s great opera, Eugene Onegin. A short sample is available on YouTube.[1]
Despite this, on March 3, 2022, it was announced that she was removed as a singer by the Met because she merely criticized the Russia-Ukraine war, without specifically criticizing Putin.[2] Netrebko posted in Instagram: {[quotebox-float|"First of all: I am opposed to this war. I am Russian and I love my country but I have many friends in Ukraine and the pain and suffering right now breaks my heart. I want this war to end and for people to be able to live in peace. This is what I hope and pray for. I want to add, however, that forcing artists, or any public figure to voice their political opinions in public and to denounce their homeland is not right. This should be a free choice. I am not a political person. I am not an expert in politics. I am an artist and my purpose is to unite across political divides.”[3]}}