Two weeks before la prima of the new production of Manon Lescaut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the house announced today that Anna Netrebko decided to pull out from the show. It is quite clear from the press release that the main reason for her withdrawal is that she does not like the Hans Neuenfels production. Details are obviously unclear:
Did she she withdraw earlier and they did not want to pass information to public until they made sure with Kristine Opolais would step in, or she abruptly decided not to sing because the whole production was not quickly redesigned and reorganized to meet her requirements?
I hope the latter is not true and Anna is not suffering from inflated diva-ego-itis... yet.
The fact that she showed off her Halloween outfit a few days ago (?) suggests that she's still that same down to earth person we love...
During the premiere performances of Giacomo Puccini’s Manon Lescaut (15th, 19th, 24th, 27th, 30th November as well as 4th and 7th December) Kristīne Opolais will replace Anna Netrebko in the title role.
General Manager Nikolaus Bachler expressed his deep regret that Anna Netrebko would not be performing. “We would still like to thank Anna Netrebko for deciding at an early stage that, due to differing artistic perspectives on the work, she would prefer to pull out. The Bayerische Staatsoper is well known for combining first-class musical quality with exciting and innovative directorial approaches. In this field this can, of course, mean that in rare cases certain artistic constellations don’t work out. But, we’re looking forward to welcoming Kristīne Opolais back and working together again with Anna Netrebko in future seasons.”
Did she she withdraw earlier and they did not want to pass information to public until they made sure with Kristine Opolais would step in, or she abruptly decided not to sing because the whole production was not quickly redesigned and reorganized to meet her requirements?
I hope the latter is not true and Anna is not suffering from inflated diva-ego-itis... yet.
The fact that she showed off her Halloween outfit a few days ago (?) suggests that she's still that same down to earth person we love...
