About 450 people demonstrated on Friday evening in front of the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden, Germany, against a performance by the Russian star soprano Anna Netrebko. Inviting you to the festival is more than “very insensitive”, the chairman of the Europe-Union initiative in Hessen, Peter Niederelz, said at the meeting.
It was an “insult to the country, the city and everyone who stands in solidarity with Ukraine.” The citizens’ initiative had called for the solidarity rally after the director of the state theater, Uwe Eric Laufenberg, invited Netrebko to the festival. The demonstrators were stunned and would raise their voices against it.
Many waved Ukrainian flags, wore flowers in their hair and held placards. It said about “killer singer” and “no applause for Putin’s propaganda Netrebko”. Musicians from the Hessian State Orchestra played the Ukrainian national anthem and the European national anthem in front of the building, and many sang along.
May Day Festival is dedicated to political prisoners
Russian-Austrian dual national Netrebko (51) was criticized for her alleged closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022. At the current May Festival in Wiesbaden, which is dedicated worldwide to political prisoners, the star soprano will perform again on May 7 as Abigaille in the opera “Nabucco” by Giuseppe Verdi.
Representatives of the state of Hesse and the capital Wiesbaden have spoken out against their actions, but the management of the state theater is sticking to it. There could be many reasons why, despite opposition from politicians, the city administration and civil society, it was decided to “invite the most venomous contemporary Russian female singers like Ms. Netrebko to the May Festival,” Ukrainian Consul General Vadym Kostiuk said. spot. . “They are all inhumane.”
Demo in September 2022 in Vienna
Netrebko only appeared in Vienna at the end of April at the “Austria for Life” event. At the open-air concert in front of Schönbrunn Palace, she sang an aria from the opera “Tannhäuser”, and there were no reports of protests. When she returned to the Vienna State Opera last September, there was a demonstration in front of the house, but thunderous applause from the audience and favorable reviews.
Source: Krone
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