The appearance of the Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko (50) at the Regensburg Castle Festival was accompanied by protests. As pictures on social media show, there was a demonstration at the entrance to Thurn and Taxis Castle, with some participants holding up banners. Netrebko’s opponents criticize their closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin (69) and reject the appearance in Regensburg.
Among other things, the demonstrators showed a picture of Putin with Netrebko and wrote: “Stop. No support for dubious Russian cultural representatives. No legitimacy of Putin’s terrorism.” Another sign read: “Even culture must not finance murderers!” Photos of war victims and bombed-out houses were also shown. In addition, many participants in the protest carried the Ukrainian flag out of solidarity.
Several other concert organizers in Germany have uninvited Netrebko in recent weeks and months. In a previous statement, she spoke out in favor of peace and against the Ukraine war, but did not clearly distance herself from Putin. A concert in Stuttgart planned for September 3 was canceled, and a performance in Baden-Baden in April did not take place either. Three more concerts with Netrebko in Germany are currently being planned: on August 29 in Cologne, on September 7 in Hamburg and on January 28 in Frankfurt. The latter performance was postponed to early next year because of the Ukraine war in June.
