Anna Netrebko - a sense of déjà vu

[Quarky]

We will not be seeing Anna once again (Clemency BH/ Breakfast this morning)- last time it was a throat infection I believe, this time foot surgery. Maybe there is something in the British climate that Anna finds disagreeable?

For the avoidance of doubt, I had not spent £200 on the price of a ticket to the ROH, but maybe there will be a few cancellations in consequence. I remember last time some people got most upset.

[Dave2002]

We will not be seeing Anna once again (Clemency BH/ Breakfast this morning)- last time it was a throat infection I believe, this time foot surgery. Maybe there is something in the British climate that Anna finds disagreeable?

How are feet affected by British weather? Foot surgery can be tricky. I wish her well, and hope that she does any physio recommended afterwards. It really can make a difference if done fairly vigorously, though seems painful at the time.

[Mahlerei]

I vaguely recall a number of posts on the old MB in which a poster lambasted Ms Netrebko for cancelling a performance at Covent Garden. A heated exchange, I seem to remember.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

We will not be seeing Anna once again (Clemency BH/ Breakfast this morning)- last time it was a throat infection I believe, this time foot surgery. Maybe there is something in the British climate that Anna finds disagreeable?

For the avoidance of doubt, I had not spent £200 on the price of a ticket to the ROH, but maybe there will be a few cancellations in consequence. I remember last time some people got most upset.

It's natural that people are going to be disappointed, but if her foot requires surgery then it's got to be serious. I was due to review her on the 17th. I well remember the exchanges on the old boards about her 2008 cancellations (bronchial infection). I had booked twice to see it at Covent Garden; in the first, Netrebko was replaced by Ermonela Jaho, who was quite marvellous and has since been entrusted with two runs in the production, as well as leaping in for Anja Harteros in Suor Angelica. The second evening saw Netrebko back on stage and, with Jonas Kaufman and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, gave one of my the most memorable performances of anything I've ever seen, full stop. Her cancellation record is nothing compared to Angela Gheorghiu...
Incidentally, it was I who gave Clemency B-H the lead on the Netrebko story: http://www.opera-britannia.com/index...ions-&Itemid=1

[Quarky]

Incidentally, it was I who gave Clemency B-H the lead on the Netrebko story: http://www.opera-britannia.com/index...ions-&Itemid=1

Many thanks for the info - I was hoping for a little background to the story.

The Christmas period is now a set of jumbled impressions, but I am sure I was listening to La Traviata on the Radio at one point, and was there an interview of another diva singing Violetta? Or may be my memory is playing tricks with me. Anyway, I went through a period a little while ago when I couldn't listen to dramatic opera - but that period seems thankfully to have passed.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

The Christmas period is now a set of jumbled impressions, but I am sure I was listening to La Traviata on the Radio at one point, and was there an interview of another diva singing Violetta? Or may be my memory is playing tricks with me.

The ROH has three casts for its Traviata performances this season. Marina Poplavskaya was first up as Violetta in October (a very fine singing actress, although she divides opinion regarding her singing. Her 'Addio del passato' was stunning.) Then we've just had Ailyn Perez, who was the Violetta in last night's (recorded) performance - quite the finest Act I Violetta I've seen and displaying a touching vulnerability you don't often see. The third cast has Ermonela Jaho apart from two performances (17th & 20th Jan) which were supposed to have featured Anna Netrebko. I suspect Jaho will now sing all seven performances, although the ROH has yet to announce a replacement. Indeed, it's yet to announce Netrebko's withdrawal and still has her listed for 17th/20th...

[Curalach]

I vaguely recall a number of posts on the old MB in which a poster lambasted Ms Netrebko for cancelling a performance at Covent Garden. A heated exchange, I seem to remember.

Indeed. The unlamented Ecudorian if my memory serves. There were heated exchanges with Reiner Torheit among others

[Barbirollians]

I am a recent convert to netrebko after her wonderful Manon with Grigolo and wish her a speedy recovery.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

If I were a betting man, I'd take a punt that Ailyn Perez may well fill in one of the Netrebko dates, meaning she sings opposite the Alfredo of Stephen Costello - her husband.

[Quarky]

Picking up on this thread again, and on Anna, I was shocked to find that time has wrought a change in her physical appearance. I do hope she can see her way to losing a few pounds.

May be she's approaching a retirement age?

In any event she seems to be between a rock and a hard place. Damned by the Met for not denouncing the war in Ukraine, and now I believe damned by Novobirsk for coming out against the war.

What a world we live in......

[pastoralguy]

How different to the life of our own dear Queen.

[LHC]

Picking up on this thread again, and on Anna, I was shocked to find that time has wrought a change in her physical appearance. I do hope she can see her way to losing a few pounds.

May be she's approaching a retirement age?

In any event she seems to be between a rock and a hard place. Damned by the Met for not denouncing the war in Ukraine, and now I believe damned by Novobirsk for coming out against the war.

What a world we live in......

Although Netrebko is no longer as thin as she was when she first became famous, she has been this size for at least ten years. In an interview in 2016 she said she was much happier at this weight especially as she no longer had to submit to diets all the time. She also said it provided extra support for her voice now that she was taking on heavier roles, such as Lady Macbeth, the other bigger Verdi roles, and Turandot.

Although her recent Met performances were cancelled, and she has obviously been dropped or released from Covent Garden’s new Trovatore next year, she is starting to get international engagements again. She has recently been singing Manon Lescaut at Monte Carlo, is giving recitals in Paris and at at La Scala this month, and will be singing Aida and Turandot in Verona this Summer.

I don’t think she will be retiring anytime soon, although returns to the US and UK may be dependent on how long the war in Ukraine continues.