# Anna Netrebko drops out of Neuenfels "Manon Lescaut"



## Ebab (Mar 9, 2013)

Anna Netrebko has left the Munich production of "Manon Lescaut", due to "differing artistic perspectives on the work", presumably opposing those of director Hans Neuenfels (of "Rats Lohengrin" fame). Jonas Kaufmann is still in.

Bayerische Staatsoper issued a meager statement:



> 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."


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Well, she is Russian, and her sense of what is moral and appropriate to show on stage is different from that of Neuenfels. Just wondering, what it is he wanted her to do. But then I probably would not want to know...


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## Ebab (Mar 9, 2013)

What surprises me though: In the past it seemed like Miss Netrebko had a rather strong stomach for today’s Regietheater stunts, so this really seems exceptional. But of course, the real reasons are only speculation at this point.

I just feel sorry for Netrebko’s fans and anybody who has gone through trouble already, trying to catch this dream couple on stage (hype or not). I think it would be good style if she issued at least a statement of her own.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Is it possbile at all to see a traditional opera staging in Munich? Or is it all Regietheater?


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Well, she is Russian, and her sense of what is moral and appropriate to show on stage is different from that of Neuenfels. Just wondering, what it is he wanted her to do. But then I probably would not want to know...


I would argue that the local Russian versions of PC-trends are inseparable from the most recent societal and political currents there - and that they are thus not necessarily quintessentially Russian per se.

Also point out that she being involved in controversial stagings might result in negative reactions towards her at home.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Is it possbile at all to see a traditional opera staging in Munich? Or is it all Regietheater?


At least they staged Norma like this four years ago in München:






I can live with a levitating tree.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Most Eurotrash productions completely ruin operas but they persist in letting the directors dominate and trash great works of art. She has options and I don't blame her if that was the case.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Most Eurotrash productions completely ruin operas but they persist in letting the directors dominate and trash great works of art. She has options and I don't blame her if that was the case.


What I really don´t like are how patronising the reasons the regietheater directors use to motivate their productions.
We must place it in present time because the audience can´t relate to earlier periods. Or replacing swords and spears with guns to show they are weapons or that a war is depicted.

There are also grades in regietheater in most regietheater they have just made setting and costumes from another time period than the one the opera is set. Then there are the outrageous ones which are most prevalent in Germany.


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## DonAlfonso (Oct 4, 2014)

Can't wait to read the reviews in the next couple of days.
Singers of her stature are booked two or three years ahead of time, often before a producer or director is selected. Totally support the artist in these cases.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Brava Anna! Brava Anna!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Found an update on this:


> Through a spokesman, Netrebko declined to comment on her departure. But in an interview Monday with Der Spiegel Neuenfels called the rift "a serious artistic disagreement" over the title character's apparent motives. The director said he viewed Manon as having to choose between two lives: a life of love and passion with the penniless student Des Grieux, or a life of luxury with the elderly tax collector Geronte.
> 
> "I think [Manon] knows that the second [choice] won't make her has happy, but she chooses it unhappily, out of necessity," Neuenfels said. But Netrebko believed that Manon found both possibilities equally enticing. "I thought that was ridiculous and degrading, and clearly said so to Ms. Netrebko. That resulted in her departure."
> 
> Neuenfels added, "We're not angry at each other - it was a righteous decision by Ms. Netrebko."


From: story/after-anna-netrebko-quits-munich-manon-company-brings-her-back/


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