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...

While Putin’s Russia runs roughshod over the sovereignty of its neighbors, his cultural emissaries are legitimizing his imperialistic aspirations in the West. Conductor Valery Gergiev is a personal friend of Vladimir Putin, having known Russia’s President since his notorious St. Petersburg days. Gergiev’s protégé, Anna Netrebko, is another loyal Putinista. Gergiev and Netrebko openly support the most loathsome policies of their favorite dictator: from oppressive anti-gay policies and invasions of neighboring countries to the annexation of Crimea and Russia-funded terrorist activities in Ukraine. Valery Gergiev and Anna Netrebko are now touring the United States, with a series of performances sponsored by sanctioned Russian banks, Sberbank and VTB. Perhaps the financial incentives take precedence over the perceived artistic value of such productions. Scruffy Gergiev, who doesn’t seem to own a comb and rarely uses a razor, seems to be just as sloppy in his interpretation of timele...