Soprano Anna Netrebko is scheduled to give a recital at the Palm Beach Opera gala on February 3. This would be her first American appearance in six years.
Netrebko is considered the best soprano in the world. dropped by the Metropolitan Opera in 2022 after she refused a demand from Met director Peter Gelb to oust Russian President Vladimir Putin following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She has has sued the Metin which he alleges defamation and breach of contract in a case that is still pending.
Since then she has performed at major opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra de Paris, Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, but was not engaged in the U.S. or at The Royal Opera in London. She last appeared at the Met in 2019 in Verdi’s “Macbeth.”
Netrebko performs with pianist Ángel Rodríguez at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.
“I am honored to lend my voice to the Palm Beach Opera’s annual gala,” Netrebko said Wednesday in a statement sent to The Associated Press.
Palm Beach Opera’s season includes three performances of Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” in January, Verdi’s “La Traviata” in February and Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” in April. Casts have not yet been announced.
Previous Palm Beach Opera galas have featured Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Renée Fleming and Bryn Terfel, while Isabel Leonard (2024), Piotr Becza³a (2023) and Nadine Sierra (2022) have performed in recent years.
“It means a lot to me to join the remarkable list of illustrious singers who have taken part in this celebration over the past decades,” Netrebko said.
