In Europe, revitalized theaters are announcing new seasons that New Yorkers can now only dream about. As New York looks ever more provincial, Paris, Berlin, and Milan are only some of those offering Anna Netrebko in star roles.
The European wave of sanctions has reached the arts sector. Prominent Russian artists, such as Valery Gergiev and Anna Netrebko, are having their contracts terminated for “insufficient distancing” from Kremlin politics.
Sadly, Macbeth turned out to be more of a miss than a hit. Livermore replaced the original Scottish setting of Verdi’s opera and Shakespeare’s play with a modern urban gangster war. The idea is far from original. Theater directors have toyed with it for at least forty years, not only with Macbeth but with other operas featuring political power tainted by betrayal and a hint of sexuality.
