Metropolitan Opera says it will sever ties with Putin-allied artists

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/27/ [login to see] /metropolitan-opera-sever-ties-putin-ukraine-gergiev-netrebko
New York's famed opera house, the Metropolitan Opera, announced Sunday that it will suspend its ties to Russian artists and institutions who are allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a video statement posted to Facebook, the Met's general manager, Peter Gelb, expressed solidarity with the people and leadership of Ukraine and said: "As an international opera company, the Met can help ring the alarm and contribute to the fight against oppression ... we can no longer engage with artists or institutions that support Putin or are supported by him — not until the invasion and killing has been stopped, order has been restored and restitutions have been made."

In an interview with The New York Times Sunday, Gelb added: "It's terrible that artistic relationships, at least temporarily, are the collateral damage of these actions by Putin." Gelb did not specify which institutions and artists it intends to suspend from collaborations, but three of the most prominent that have been actively allied with Putin are the Mariinsky (formerly Kirov) Theatre in St. Petersburg; its general and artistic director, the conductor Valery Gergiev, who is also the Met's former principal guest conductor; and star soprano Anna Netrebko, who appears frequently on the Met's stage.