Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (Russian: Анна Юрьевна Нетребко; born September 18, 1971) is a Russian operatic soprano who has performed at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera, and La Scala.
Valery Gergiev discovered and supported her career, and she began working at the Mariinsky Theatre, performing with him in the theater and at other venues. She gained worldwide attention after singing the role of Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the 2002 Salzburg Festival. She was known for singing lyric and coloratura soprano roles, but later took on more dramatic 19th-century roles, such as Leonora in Il trovatore and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. Since 2016, she has focused on verismo operas.
She has been an exclusive artist for Deutsche Grammophon since 2003. She has received multiple Echo Klassik Awards, was listed on the Time 100 in 2007, was named a People's Artist of Russia in 2008, and became an Austrian Kammersängerin in 2017.
Early life and training
Netrebko was born in Krasnodar to a family with Kuban Cossack heritage. While studying at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, she worked as a janitor at Saint Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre. Later, when she auditioned for a role at the theatre, conductor Valery Gergiev, who recognized her from her previous work, became her vocal mentor.
Career
In 1994, under the direction of Valery Gergiev, Anna Netrebko made her first performance on an opera stage at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg at age 22. She played the role of Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, even though she was initially listed as Barbarina in the program. That same year, she performed as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with the Riga Independent Opera Avangarda Akadēmija, led by conductor David Milnes. She later became closely connected with the Mariinsky Theatre.
In the fall of 1995, Netrebko made her first appearance in the United States with the San Francisco Opera, performing the role of Lyudmila. After this successful performance, she joined the Merola Opera Program in the summer of 1996 and became a regular guest singer at the San Francisco Opera in the following seasons. She performed in operas such as L’elisir d’amore (Adina), Betrothal in a Monastery, Idomeneo (Ilia), La bohème (Musetta), The Tsar’s Bride (Marfa), Don Giovanni (Zerlina), and Falstaff (Nannetta). In 1998, she performed Lyudmila again when the Mariinsky production of the opera was presented at the Metropolitan Opera House. She also made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in Parsifal, conducted by Gergiev. That same year, she sang her first Violetta in La traviata in Saint Petersburg and her first Amina in La sonnambula the following year. In October 1999, she performed Gilda in Rigoletto at the Washington National Opera.
Netrebko made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in February 2002 as Natasha in the Met premiere of Prokofiev’s War and Peace. She also performed as Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Her international recognition began in August 2002 when she sang Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, at the Salzburg Festival. She became closely associated with this festival. In September 2002, she returned to the Royal Opera as Servilia in La clemenza di Tito and performed in Don Giovanni and Rigoletto in the next two seasons. She later returned to the Washington National Opera as Ilia in Idomeneo. In 2003, she made her debut at the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera, both as Violetta in La traviata. In November 2003, she performed Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Los Angeles Opera and returned in 2005 for Roméo et Juliette and in 2006 for Manon.
In February 2004, she returned to Vienna for Don Giovanni and was invited to perform at the Vienna Opera Ball, where she returned in 2007. She later starred in a Japan tour of La bohème as Musetta, conducted by Seiji Ozawa, and returned to the San Francisco Opera in the same role. After withdrawing from two performances due to exhaustion, she returned to the stage in November 2004 as Musetta in the Metropolitan Opera’s La bohème. In summer 2005, she performed in the premiere of Willy Decker’s new staging of La traviata in Salzburg, conducted by Carlo Rizzi. In December 2005, she sang Gilda in Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera and participated in the premiere of Otto Schenk’s new production of Don Pasquale and a Japan tour of Don Giovanni in the same season.
In 2006, she performed Susanna in the new production of The Marriage of Figaro in Salzburg, directed by Claus Guth. In January 2007, she sang Elvira in I puritani at the Metropolitan Opera. On May 30, 2007, she made her debut at Carnegie Hall with Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, a performance originally scheduled for March 2, 2006, but postponed due to not feeling artistically ready. She later performed Donna Anna at Covent Garden but withdrew from some performances due to illness. She appeared at the Last Night of the Proms on September 8, 2007, singing excerpts from La sonnambula and Giuditta, and the lied “Morgen!” by Richard Strauss with Joshua Bell. In the fall of 2007, she reprised her role as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at the Metropolitan Opera.
In December 2007, Netrebko was invited to honor Martin Scorsese at the 30th Annual Kennedy Center Honors, performing the aria “O mio babbino caro.” In January 2008, she performed Violetta at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in a triumphant opening night performance opposite Jonas Kaufmann and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Maurizio Benini. However, she canceled three subsequent performances due to a bronchial condition. In May 2008, she made her debut at the Paris Opera in I Capuleti e i Montecchi by Bellini at the Opéra Bastille, with Joyce DiDonato as Romeo. After maternity leave, she returned to the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg on January 14, 2009, singing Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor in a production from the Scottish Opera led by John Doyle. She later performed the same role at the Metropolitan Opera in January and February 2009. In Spring 2009, she sang Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Royal Opera House and performed Violetta in La traviata at the San Francisco Opera in June 2009.
In February 2010, she presented the Deutscher Medienpreis 2009 to Chancellor Angela Merkel and sang Strauss’ “Cäcilie” at the ceremony in Baden-Baden. From April to May 2010, she performed in La bohème, Carmen, and Manon at the Vienna State Opera. She was originally scheduled to perform in I puritani but canceled due to illness. She starred in Laurent Pelly’s new production of Manon at the Royal Opera and sang Juliette at the Salzburg Festival. In October 2010, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Norina in Don Pasquale, with the matinee performance on November 13 broadcast nationwide by PBS.
On April 2, 2011, she performed the title role of Anna Bolena by Donizetti at
Other activities
Anna Netrebko holds the title of honorary director for the Russian Children's Welfare Society. She has participated in multiple events of "Petroushka Ball," a major fundraising event for the charity. In 2007, she was named an ambassador for SOS Children's Villages in Austria and supported the Tomilino village in Russia. Since 2005, she has supported the organization "projekt Anna – Kinderhilfe Kaliningrad e.V." and became its patron in 2008. In May 2012, she and her then-partner Erwin Schrott created the charitable foundation "Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott 4 Kids" to support education, art, culture, and youth welfare.
Netrebko appeared briefly as herself in the 2004 movie The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. She has worn clothing designed by Irina Vitjaz, an Austrian fashion designer and close friend.
As of 2022, there has been discussion about her relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2012, she was listed among 499 celebrities who supported Putin during the Russian presidential election, along with Valery Gergiev and Denis Matsuev. She later said this was a way to thank Putin for supporting the arts. In 2018, a blogger claimed she signed a declaration supporting Putin, but she denied this, stating her name was added to the 2012 list without her permission and that she did not vote in the election.
In 2011, she denied claims that she had a past romantic relationship with Putin, though she joked, "I'd have loved to have been … he's a very attractive man. Such a strong, male energy."
In December 2014, she gave one million rubles to Oleg Tsaryov, stating the donation was for the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. She was photographed with Tsaryov and a flag of Novorossiya, a self-proclaimed group in Ukraine. Tsaryov has been sanctioned by the European Union for his role in pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. Netrebko said, "I want to make clear, however, that this donation is not a political act."
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Netrebko expressed opposition to the invasion on social media in late February 2022. She later called people who pressured her to take a political stance "human s*s" who "are as evil as blind aggressors." On 30 March 2022, she again condemned the war in Ukraine and distanced herself from Putin. The Russian Duma, controlled by Putin, called her a traitor to her country.
Since January 2023, she has been sanctioned by the Government of Ukraine. On 15 May 2025, about 100 supporters of Vitsche Berlin protested outside the Berlin State Opera to criticize her performances due to her connections to the Kremlin.
Public image
In 2007, Time magazine included her on its Time 100 list. In 2013, she was named as one of the Beautiful People by the magazine Paper.
Personal life
In March 2006, Netrebko applied for Austrian citizenship in Vienna. She explained that the difficult and embarrassing process of getting visas as a Russian citizen made it hard for her to perform abroad. Because of this, she decided to apply for Austrian citizenship. In late July 2006, the Council of Ministers approved her application for "special merits," even though she did not speak German or live in Austria.
Netrebko began a relationship with Italian bass-baritone Simone Alberghini in 1999 after they performed together in Rigoletto at the Washington National Opera. She announced their engagement but chose not to marry because of her busy work schedule. In May 2007, they confirmed their relationship had ended.
In December 2007, Netrebko became engaged to Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott, whom she first met in 2003 during a performance. In April 2008, she announced their marriage, but they never married. Their son, Tiago Aruã, was born on September 5, 2008, in Vienna. In November 2013, the couple announced their separation after living mostly apart for several months.
In February 2014, Netrebko started a relationship with Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov, her co-star in Manon Lescaut in Rome. Five months later, they announced their engagement. They married in Vienna on December 29, 2015. Their official wedding took place at the Palais Coburg, and a celebration at the Gartenpalais Liechtenstein welcomed 180 guests, including Plácido Domingo. In June 2024, Netrebko announced their separation.
Netrebko has apartments in Saint Petersburg, Vienna, and New York City. In 2008, after becoming pregnant, she searched for a new home in Vienna. That year, she bought and began renovating a penthouse apartment at Franziskanerplatz. However, the renovation was not completed, and she still lived in her original apartment by 2010. In February 2010, the building was evacuated because of a risk of collapse and reopened two months later. In November 2009, she moved into a new apartment above Lincoln Square in Manhattan, where she combined two units to create more space.
Awards and honors
In 2006, Netrebko won the Bambi Award in the classical music category. In 2018, she received the "World Star" title at the BraVo International Professional Music Awards.
She was named Singer of the Year in 2007 and Female Artist of the Year in 2008 at the Classical Brit Awards. The journal Musical America called her "a genuine superstar for the 21st century," and she was named Musician of the Year in 2008. In 2012, she received the Leading Ladies Award from Madonna magazine. In 2016, she won the Leading Ladies Award again in the Culture category. She also received an Opera News Award in April 2016.
Netrebko won the "Female Singer of the Year" (Sängerin des Jahres) at the Echo Klassik Awards in 2014 and 2016. She was awarded "Best Vocalist in Classical Music" at the Russian National Music Awards in 2016, 2017, and 2018. In 2017, she received the Best Female Singer title at the International Opera Awards. On October 26, 2018, the Metropolitan Opera Guild honored her at an annual luncheon. In 2020, she was awarded the Swedish Polar Music Prize and the Victoire d'honneur at the Victoires de la musique classique.
In September 2022, she received the "Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis" for Best Female Leading Role for her performance as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at the Wiener Staatsoper.
In 2004, Netrebko was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation. In February 2008, she was named People's Artist of Russia. In May 2018, she received the Order of Friendship from the Azerbaijani president. In February 2017, the Austrian government named her Kammersängerin.
On September 18, 2021, Netrebko celebrated her 50th birthday with a concert in the Kremlin in Moscow. The event featured friends and stars such as Eyvazov, Rolando Villazon, Plácido Domingo, and Michael Volle. Putin sent his congratulations from a distance through Dmitri Peskov, as he had been exposed to coronavirus cases. Some of the money from ticket sales was donated to the Arithmetic of Good charity fund, which helps orphans.
An asteroid, numbered 31104 Annanetrebko, was named in her honor. The official naming was published by the Minor Planet Center on January 31, 2018 (M.P.C. 108697).
Opera roles
Upcoming operas include Un ballo in maschera, La fanciulla del West, Pikovoya Dama, and Ariadne auf Naxos.