The Prague city administration wants to make a planned concert appearance by the Russian-born opera singer Anna Netrebko dependent on Ukraine’s approval. Prague’s deputy mayor Jiri Pospisil told the CTK news agency on Thursday that he first wanted to consult the Ukrainian embassy and then decide whether to recommend that cultural officials cancel the performance.
Netrebko’s concert is scheduled for October 16 in the Smetana Hall of the Prague Municipal Hall Obecni dum (in English: Municipal House). Pospisil made it clear that the Ukrainian attitude to the planned concert performance would be decisive for him: “The opera singer is on Ukraine’s sanctions list. If my impression is confirmed, the performance should be canceled. This is not just any concert. She has actively involved in supporting the criminal regime in the past.”
CTK pointed out that Netrebko has lived in Austria for years, but in the past has supported Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin in a presidential candidacy in Russia. Netrebko’s concert manager told CTK that the opera singer unequivocally condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
