{"id":2015449,"date":"2025-09-11T23:54:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T23:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2015449"},"modified":"2025-09-11T23:54:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T23:54:16","slug":"protesters-target-royal-opera-house-over-performance-by-putins-diva-royal-opera-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/protesters-target-royal-opera-house-over-performance-by-putins-diva-royal-opera-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesters target Royal Opera House over performance by \u2018Putin\u2019s diva\u2019 | Royal Opera House"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dozens of protesters have gathered outside the Royal Opera House<\/a> to demonstrate against an eminent Russian opera singer nicknamed \u201cPutin\u2019s diva\u201d who performed on the opening night of Tosca.<\/p>\n

Anna Netrebko, 53, one of the world\u2019s best-known sopranos, who draws full houses for her performances at leading opera houses globally, has denied being an ally of the Russian leader.<\/p>\n

She was ostracised by most major opera houses in the months after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine<\/a> in February 2022, despite releasing a statement unequivocally condemning the conflict.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Oleksandra Vietrova, 43, said she attended the protest because \u2018polite communication didn\u2019t bring any results\u2019.<\/span> Photograph: Linda Nylind\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Netrebko, who has not performed in Russia since 2022, was given a People\u2019s Artist award in 2008 by Vladimir Putin<\/a>. The crowd of about 50 protesters congregated outside the central London venue included Natalia Filatova, 48, who was wrapped in the Ukrainian flag.<\/p>\n

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She told the Guardian: \u201cI\u2019ve been living in London<\/a> 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\u2019t have to be a question. I think it\u2019s a disgrace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it has damaged the image of the Royal Opera<\/a>. I don\u2019t understand how [this] theatre can be a royal theatre when this country has been supporting Ukraine since day one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oleksandra Vietrova, 43, held a sign that read: \u201cBehind the curtain, blood and tanks\u201d. She said she attended because \u201cunfortunately, all the polite communication didn\u2019t bring any results\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Gerald Finley (Baron Scarpia) and Anna Netrebko (Floria Tosca) perform in Tosca at the Royal Opera House in London.<\/span> Photograph: Tristram Kenton\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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 \u201clongtime symbol of cultural propaganda for a regime that is responsible for serious war crimes\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a letter, the group argued the RBO faced a \u201cdefining choice: between status and responsibility, between profit and values, between silence and conscience\u201d, adding: \u201cWe urge you to remain, as you consistently have, on the ethical side of art \u2013 and of history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The RBO has said as a \u201csinger\u2019s house\u201d it has a duty to showcase the greatest performers, adding that Netrebko has condemned the invasion.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cnever shown support for Russian separatists\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>A protester holds a sign outside the Royal Opera House in London.<\/span> Photograph: Linda Nylind\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2014 Netrebko made a donation to Donetsk\u2019s opera house after Russia seized the city, and she was photographed<\/a> holding the separatist flag of \u201cNovorossiya\u201d with a pro-Kremlin former Ukrainian politician. She later said did not understand what the flag meant.<\/p>\n

Netrebko has said that she \u201cacknowledges and regrets that past actions or statements of mine could have been misinterpreted\u201d, and that she has only met Putin \u201ca handful of times\u201d.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month the RBO pulled its production of Tosca at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv<\/a> after almost 200 members signed an open letter criticising the organisation\u2019s stance on Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.theguardian.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dozens of protesters have gathered outside the Royal Opera House to demonstrate against an eminent Russian opera singer nicknamed \u201cPutin\u2019s diva\u201d who performed on the opening night of Tosca. Anna Netrebko, 53, one of the world\u2019s best-known sopranos, who draws full houses for her performances at leading opera houses globally, has denied being an ally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2015450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2015449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Protesters-target-Royal-Opera-House-over-performance-by-\u2018Putins-diva.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2015450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2015449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2015449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}