Opera diva Anna Netrebko celebrates her birthday on September 18. There is a legend about “The Mariinsky Theatre Cinderella.” It goes as follows. Valery Gergiev first saw Anna Netrebko when she was washing the floor in the theater. Anna was singing an opera melody to herself. It is true that Anna worked as a cleaner while studying at the St Petersburg State Conservatory, but it was not this fairy tale that saw her take her place on stage at the Mariinsky Theatre.
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© RIA Novosti
Opera diva Anna Netrebko celebrates her birthday on September 18. There is a legend about “The Mariinsky Theatre Cinderella.” It goes as follows. Valery Gergiev first saw Anna Netrebko when she was washing the floor in the theater. Anna was singing an opera melody to herself. It is true that Anna worked as a cleaner while studying at the St Petersburg State Conservatory, but it was not this fairy tale that saw her take her place on stage at the Mariinsky Theatre.
A fourth-year student, Anna won the Glinka vocalist contest and auditioned for the Mariinsky Theatre. Then she auditioned for the part of Barbarina in “The Marriage of Figaro,” and was surprised to be given the lead role – Susanna.
A year later, Anna gave outstanding performances at San Francisco Opera, and in 2002 debuted at New York’s Metropolitan Opera as Natasha Rostova. The opera “War and Peace” caused a sensation, and Anna began appearing at the world’s most famous opera theaters.
Today, Anna Netrebko’s name on the playbill guarantees a full house in any venue worldwide, from the Metropolitan Opera to La Scala to the Mariinsky Theatre. The world’s media compete in eloquence, calling Anna’s voice “dark gold on red velvet,” or “faerie soprano,” and dubbing the singer “the Russian Maria Callas,” or even “the opera world’s ‘It Girl’.” Although Anna has signed many contracts with opera houses abroad, she remains a Mariinsky Theatre soloist.
Although Anna has signed many contracts with opera houses abroad, she remains a Mariinsky Theatre soloist. In 2009, she starred in Gaetano Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” staged by John Doyle.
“It is not because of money that I sing in the West so often,” Anna Netrebko told Rossiiskaya Gazeta. “I just think that when you get an invitation from opera houses like that – you do not turn them down. As for my performances in Russia, there will be more of them. I am a Russian singer. And I must sing first and foremost for my compatriots.”
In January 2011, the opera “L’Elisir d’Amore” (“The Elixir of Love”) featuring Anna Netrebko premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre.
Anna performs in this romantic comedy, now set in an Italian village in the 1960s, alongside her husband, famous Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott.
