Julia Davis

The recent performance of “Iolanta” at the Met was outshined by the high-spirited protests, accompanying Russian Conductor Valery Gergiev’s and opera singer Anna Netrebko’s performances in the West. Mariinsky theater musicians callously asked protesting Ukrainian artists: “When will you all die already [expletive]?” and exclaimed “Alaska will also be ours!” (play on words for the Russia’s distasteful annexation slogan, “Crimea is ours!”) Undeterred, protesters put on quite a show, inside and outside of the Met. Dressed in colorful costumes, they reenacted Anna Netrebko’s ill-fated donation to the sanctioned separatist leader, Oleg Tsarov. While the protesters’ musical act and a political message was a resounding success, critics lambasted Gergiev’s barely-rehearsed productions. They were also far from impressed with Netrebko’s waning vocal chops. A review of “Iolanta” bemoaned her poor performance: “Maybe it’s sentimentality that’s kept this role in Netrebko’s repertoire, because a...

NATO detected and monitored four groups of Russian military aircraft, conducting significant military maneuvers in European airspace on October 28 and 29, 2014. These sizable Russian flights took place over the Baltic Sea, North Sea/Atlantic Ocean and Black Sea. These activities represent an unusual level of air activity over European airspace. Fighter aircraft from Norway, Britain, Portugal, Germany and Turkey were scrambled in response. Tensions between Russia and NATO countries have soared over the Ukraine crisis. Russia initially denied that its military played a part in the unlawful annexation of Crimea. Putin later admitted that the Russian military did indeed participate in the incursion. Similar denials are now being uttered with respect to Russia’s Hamas-like activities in Ukraine, while the deaths of Russian soldiers are being willfully concealed . As the West continues to press on with sanctions against Russia, the wounded bear is attempting to assert its might with milita...