Romania has canceled the upcoming concert of Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko, after pressure from Ukraine’s embassy in Bucharest and activists, the Ukrainian foreign ministry reported.
Ms Netrebko, a talented soprano, was scheduled to perform in the northwest city of Cluj on October 6 with the Transylvanian Philharmonic Orchestra, and at the same time receive an honorary doctorate from the Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said that by canceling the event, Romania had shown “understanding and solidarity with Ukraine in countering Russia’s hybrid influence through so-called cultural initiatives.”
Ukraine has imposed sanctions against Netrebko over her past links with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
In 2014, she donated money to a theater in the rebel-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine and was photographed holding a flag of pro-Russian rebels, Digi24 reported.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, she was urged to speak out against Putin and the war. She condemned the conflict but not the Russian president.
The embassy in Bucharest engaged with the rector of the National Music Academy, Romanian authorities, and civil society representatives to get the event canceled, it said.
“As long as Russia continues its aggressive and bloody war, and its military commits war crimes daily, international isolation must persist. Culture cannot be used as a tool to whitewash the aggressor’s reputation,” the ministry said.
Ms. Netrebko, who also holds Austrian citizenship was decorated by Putin as a people’s artist in 2008.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, she stopped performing in Europe and has not returned to Russia. The Bavarian State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York terminated agreements with her, while other cancellations were by mutual agreement, it was reported. She sued the Metropolitan Opera.
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