Discovered and promoted by
Valery Gergiev, she began her career at the
Mariinsky Theatre, collaborating with the conductor in the theater and performances elsewhere. She was noticed globally after playing Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the 2002 Salzburg Festival. She had been known for her rendition of
lyric and
coloratura soprano roles yet later proceeded into heavier 19th-century romantic roles, such as Leonora in Il trovatore and the role of Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. Since 2016, she has turned her focus to
verismo repertoire. In 2015 she married Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov, with whom she has been performing frequently since.
Under Gergiev's guidance, in 1994 Netrebko made her operatic stage debut at the Mariinsky at age 22 as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro despite initially being billed as Barbarina.[2] In the same year, she also performed as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with the Riga Independent Opera Avangarda Akadēmija under conductor
David Milnes.[4][5] She subsequently became associated with the Mariinsky Theatre.
In February 2004, she returned to Vienna for Don Giovanni,[18] and was subsequently invited as the guest performer at the
Vienna Opera Ball, where she returned in 2007.[22][23] She then starred in a Japan tour of La bohème in
Robert Carsen's staging as Musetta conducted by
Seiji Ozawa,[24] and subsequently returned to
San Francisco Opera in the same role.[25] After withdrawing from two engagements, citing exhaustion,[26] she returned to scene in November in
Metropolitan Opera's La bohème as Musetta.[27] In summer 2005, she starred in the premiere of
Willy Decker's new staging of La traviata in Salzburg, conducted by
Carlo Rizzi.[28] In December 2005, she sang Gilda in Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera, and was featured in the premiere of
Otto Schenk's new production of Don Pasquale and Japan tour of Don Giovanni in the same season.[29][30][31]
She sang Elvira in I puritani at the Metropolitan Opera in January 2007, and on 30 May 2007, Netrebko made her
Carnegie Hall debut with
Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the
Orchestra of St. Luke's, which was originally scheduled on 2 March 2006 but she postponed due to not feeling artistically ready.[33] She then performed Donna Anna at Covent Garden, but withdrew from some performances due to illness.[34] She appeared at the
Last Night of the Proms on 8 September of that year where she performed excerpts from La sonnambula and Giuditta, and the lied "
Morgen!" by
Richard Strauss with
Joshua Bell.[35] In the fall of 2007 she reprised her role as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at the Metropolitan Opera.
In January 2008 she performed Violetta at the
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden to triumphant acclaim on the opening night,[37] opposite
Jonas Kaufmann and
Dmitri Hvorostovsky in performances conducted by
Maurizio Benini. However, she cancelled three subsequent performances due to suffering a bronchial condition. In May 2008, she made her Paris Opera debut in
Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the
Opéra Bastille, with
Joyce DiDonato as Romeo. In her first performance after her maternity leave, Netrebko sang Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor when it opened at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg on 14 January 2009, in a production from the
Scottish Opera led by John Doyle.[38] She then sang the same role in January and February 2009 at the Metropolitan Opera. Netrebko appeared as Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the
Royal Opera House in Spring 2009, and as Violetta in La traviata in June 2009 at the
San Francisco Opera.
She presented the Deutscher Medienpreis 2009 to Chancellor
Angela Merkel and sang Strauss' "
Cäcilie" at the ceremony in Baden-Baden on 9 February 2010.[39]
Through April and May 2010, she made a series of appearances at the Vienna State Opera in La bohème, Carmen, Manon. Originally scheduled in I puritani as well, she cancelled the appearance citing illness.[40][41] She starred in
Laurent Pelly's new Manon production at the Royal Opera, and sang Juliette at the Salzburg Festival.[42][43] In October 2010, she returned to New York's Metropolitan Opera for Norina in Don Pasquale,[44] the matinee performance on 13 November of which was broadcast nationwide by
PBS.[45]
Heavier roles (2011–2022)
On 2 April 2011, she sang the title role of Gaetano Donizetti's Anna Bolena at the
Vienna State Opera for a sold-out premiere there, and the repeat performance on 5 April 2011 was broadcast live to cinemas around the world.[46][47] On 7 December 2011, she opened the new season at
La Scala in Milan, making her house debut, as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.[48][49] She has the distinction of being invited to appear in three consecutive opening night new productions at the Metropolitan Opera: Anna Bolena in 2011, L'elisir d'amore in 2012, and Eugene Onegin in 2013. Her performance as Lady Macbeth in the Metropolitan's 2014 fall season's production of Macbeth, a revival of
Adrian Noble's 2007 production, drew critical praise and demonstrated her voice is still expanding in range and volume.[50][51] She continued her expansion into heavier Verdi roles at the Met the following year, singing the role of Leonora in Il trovatore to acclaim from both critics and audiences.[52][53]
In April 2016, Netrebko announced her withdrawal from productions of Bellini's Norma at the Royal Opera House's 2016/17 season and the Metropolitan Opera's 2017/18 season due to the change in her voice.[56][57][58][59] The vacancies were filled respectively by
Sonya Yoncheva and
Sondra Radvanovsky.[60][61][62]
She then made her debut as
Elsa in Lohengrin at the
Semperoper in Dresden, and then went to Saint Petersburg for the same role at the Mariinsky Theatre.[63][64]
In 2018, she performed in both gala concerts at the
Red Square on 13 June and at the
Bolshoi Theatre on 14 July, respectively commemorating the opening and closing of the
2018 FIFA World Cup.[70][71] On 8 September 2018 she took part in the inauguration gala concert of
Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow, which was streamed on
Medici.tv.[72][73] In February 2019, she opened the 2019
Vienna Opera Ball.[74] She was featured in the opening ceremony of
2019 European Games in Minsk on 21 June and inaugurated the first concert season of the Congress Hall at the Yekaterinburg Expo on 30 August 2019.[75][76]
In June 2020 Netrebko performed highlights from Verdi's Don Carlo in reduced concert form at the
Semperoper as part of its "Aufklang!" series which reopened the theatre after the first
COVID-19 lockdown in Germany.[77] She went on debuting at the
Teatro di San Carlo in Naples for semi-staged Tosca with her husband and
Ludovic Tézier.[78] In September 2020 she had to self-isolate after her co-star in Don Carlo at the Bolshoi Theatre,
Ildar Abdrazakov, was tested positive for
COVID-19. She was soon hospitalised in Moscow, being treated for COVID-19-related pneumonia for about a week.[79][80][81]
Boycott, March 2022
On 26 February 2022, following the 2022
Russian invasion of Ukraine, Netrebko released a statement in which she voiced her opposition to the war but disagreed with forcing one to voice one's political opinion.[82] Despite her statement, she faced pressure from performance institutions for failing to distance herself from Russian president Vladimir Putin. On 1 March 2022, she said she would "retire from concert life until further notice".[83][84] Immediately prior to this announcement, she withdrew from opera productions in Milan and Zürich,[85] while the
Bavarian State Opera cancelled existing engagements with both her and
Valery Gergiev.[86] Two days later, the Metropolitan Opera removed her from the upcoming Turandot, replacing her with the Ukrainian
Liudmyla Monastyrska in the title role,[87][88][89][90] and from Don Carlos in the 2023 season.[91][92] The
Berlin State Opera and
Festspielhaus Baden-Baden also cancelled her appearances, with the latter not ruling out future cooperation.[93][94] Finn McRedmond of The Irish Times said that such a "wholesale boycott of Russia" would be "a dangerous departure from Western values".[95]
On 30 March 2022, Netrebko released another statement where she announced plans to resume her public performances from May 2022, and repeated her condemnation of the war in Ukraine,[a] distancing herself from Putin.[97][98]
I expressly condemn the war on Ukraine and my thoughts are with the victims of this war and their families. My position is clear. I am not a member of any political party nor am I allied with any leader of Russia. I acknowledge and regret that past actions or statements of mine could have been misinterpreted. In fact, I have met President Putin only a handful of times in my entire life, most notably on the occasion of receiving awards in recognition of my art or at the Olympics opening ceremony. I have otherwise never received any financial support from the Russian Government, and live and am a tax resident in Austria. I love my homeland of Russia and only seek peace and unity through my art. After taking my announced break, I will resume performing in late May, initially in Europe.[99]
Netrebko was denounced as a traitor of Russia after her second statement,[100] with her Russian performances cancelled and a Duma deputy suggesting that she resign from her Russian titles.[101][102][103] Berlin State Opera manager Matthias Schulz later announced that he had been contacting Netrebko about performances scheduled in 2023.[104]
In June 2022, Netrebko filed a labor grievance against the Met with the assistance of the
American Guild of Musical Artists.[105][106] In March 2023, an arbitrator ordered the Met to pay her over $200,000 for the cancelled performances while she pay a $30,000 penalty for making "highly inappropriate" statements following the invasion.[107]
Netrebko has often performed the titular character in Aida, an Ethiopian princess, with face-darkening makeup, including her role debut at the
Salzburg Festival in 2017, and at the
Metropolitan Opera in 2018—despite the opera company's 2015 pledge to eliminate the use of face-darkening makeup in its productions.[125] In June 2019 she defended such choice in the comments under her Instagram post for a performance.[126][127]
In July 2022, Netrebko and the
Arena di Verona Festival faced heavy criticism for performing in
blackface, following the release of publicity photos for a performance of Aida.[128] Subsequently, American soprano
Angel Blue canceled her upcoming performances of La traviata at the Festival, citing the company's insistence on maintaining the practice.[129] Blue's cancellation initiated heated discussion.[130][131] Tenor Yusif Eyvazov, Netrebko's husband, called Blue's decision "disgusting,"[132] while mezzo-soprano
Grace Bumbry offered a conciliatory perspective.[133]
Other notable singers to have publicly spoken out against the use of blackface in Opera include the mezzo-soprano
Jamie Barton[134] who named Netrebko directly, and
Stephanie Blythe, who suggested an abstention from performing operas that have typically featured white singers made up to appear as other ethnicities.[135]
Responding to the controversy surrounding blackface, the Arena di Verona Festival claimed it is "very hard to change" the production to avoid the use of blackface (this staging dates from 2002).[136] The Festival also stated that when Blue signed her contract for La traviata, this staging of Aida was already planned and she should already have known that blackface was to be used.[137]
Other activities
Netrebko serves as an honorary director of the
Russian Children's Welfare Society and has featured in several editions of "Petroushka Ball", the major fund raiser of the charity.[138][139] In 2007, she was announced to be an ambassador for
SOS Children's Villages in Austria, and a sponsor for the Tomilino village in Russia.[140] She has been supporting the association "projekt Anna - Kinderhilfe
Kaliningrad e.V." since 2005, and became its patron in 2008.[141][142] In May 2012, she and her then-partner Erwin Schrott jointly founded the charitable foundation "Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott 4 Kids", aiming to promote education, art, culture and youth welfare.[143][144][145]
She has worn several designs by Austrian fashion designer Irina Vitjaz, who is a close friend of hers.[147]
Political activity and relationship with Vladimir Putin
As of 2022, there has been a debate over her association with Russian president
Vladimir Putin.[148] In 2012 she appeared on a list of 499 celebrities endorsing Putin in the
2012 Russian presidential election alongside
Valery Gergiev and
Denis Matsuev.[149] She later explained this as a gesture of recognition of Putin's support for the arts.[150] After a blogger published that she also appeared on a declaration of support for Putin in 2018[151] she stated several times that she did not sign this declaration, that her name was kept from the 2012 list without her approval and that she did not even participate in the vote.[150][152][153]
In 2011, she rejected claims that she and Putin had formerly been romantically involved, though she said "I'd have loved to have been ... he's a very attractive man. Such a strong, male energy."[154]
Following the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Netrebko has held varying public stances. In late February, she said on social media that she opposed the invasion, but subsequently described people who forced her to express her political position as "human s***s" who "are as evil as blind aggressors."[148] After her second statement on 30 March 2022, where she repeated her condemnation of the war in Ukraine, distancing herself from Putin,[160] the Putin-controlled Russian
Duma denounced her a
traitor to her nation.[161]
Since January 2023, she was among the public figures who was sanctioned by the
Government of Ukraine.[162]
Public image
Time magazine placed her on its
Time 100 list in 2007.[163] She was named one of the Beautiful People in 2013 by Paper.[164]
Personal life
Netrebko applied for Austrian citizenship in Vienna in March 2006.[165] In response to the backlash in her native country, she cited the cumbersome and humiliating process of obtaining visas as a Russian citizen for her many performances abroad as the main reason for the decision.[166][167] In late July, the
Council of Ministers approved the application for her "special merits",[168] despite the fact that she neither spoke German nor lived in Austria.[169]
Netrebko started a relationship with Italian bass-baritone
Simone Alberghini when they met during performances of Rigoletto at the Washington National Opera in 1999.[170] She announced their engagement but did not consider marrying due to a busy schedule.[171] In May 2007 their relationship was confirmed as ended.[172]
In December 2007 Netrebko became engaged to Uruguayan bass-baritone
Erwin Schrott, whom she first met during a collaboration in 2003.[173] In April 2008, she announced their marriage,[174] but their wedding never in fact took place.[175] Their son, Tiago Aruã, was born on 5 September 2008 in Vienna.[176][177] On 25 November 2013, the couple announced their separation,[178][179] after several months of largely separate lives.
In February 2014, during rehearsals for a staging of Manon Lescaut in Rome, Netrebko began a relationship with
Azerbaijani tenor
Yusif Eyvazov [
de], her co-star in that opera. Five months later, the couple announced their engagement.[180][181] They married in Vienna on 29 December 2015. Their official wedding ceremony took place at the
Palais Coburg, and the following celebration at the
Gartenpalais Liechtenstein welcomed 180 guests in attendance, including
Plácido Domingo.[182]
Netrebko has apartments in Saint Petersburg, Vienna, and New York City. Since her pregnancy she had been looking for a new residence in Vienna.[183] In 2008, she purchased and renovated a
penthouse apartment at Franziskanerplatz.[184] The renovation was not finished and she still lived in her original apartment by 2010.[185] The building was evacuated in February 2010 due to acute danger of collapsing and only reopened two months later.[186] In November 2009, she moved into a new apartment above
Lincoln Square, Manhattan, where she combined two units for additional space.[187][188]
Awards and honors
Musical awards
Netrebko won 2006
Bambi Award in the classical music category.[189] She was awarded the "World Star" of the BraVo International Professional Music Awards 2018.[190]
She won the 2007 Singer of the Year and the 2008 Female Artist of Year in the
Classical Brit Awards.[191][192] She was identified by the journal Musical America as "a genuine superstar for the 21st century" and was named Musician of the Year for 2008.[193] Netrebko was one of the recipients of Leading Ladies Award 2012 awarded by Madonna magazine.[194] She received another Leading Ladies Award in the category of Culture in 2016.[195] She was presented an
Opera News Award in April 2016.[196]
In September 2022, she received an "Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis" as Best Female Leading Role for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth in “
Macbeth” in
Wiener Staatsoper.[206][207]
On 18 September 2021, Netrebko celebrated her 50th birthday with a concert held in the
Kremlin in Moscow. The concert featured friends and stars as Eyvazov,
Rolando Villazon,
Plácido Domingo or
Michael Volle. Putin congratulated from afar through
Dmitri Peskov, because he had been exposed to Corona cases.[212] Part of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Arithmetic of Good charity fund, which helps orphans.[213]
^Shengold, David (May 2013).
"Mariinsky II Opening Gala". Opera News. Vol. 77, no. 11. Archived from
the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.