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12.11.07
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AnnaMania
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By Peter de Bourgraaf
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Anna Netrebko Enhances Russia’s Image in Austria
This year is not likely to be remembered as a very good one for Russia’s public relations in Austria. It started with the introduction of a maximum quota for Russians at the country’s Alpine ski resorts. Many a traditional visitor had complained about the indecent behavior on the part of an ever-growing contingent of holidaymakers from the east.
No sooner had a dearth of winter snowfall and the coming of spring done away with the unfortunate representatives of Russia, than President Vladimir Putin cancelled an interview with Austrian National Television, ORF, during his two-day state visit in May. It was officially attributed to a tight agenda in Vienna, but was reportedly connected to the channel’s critical Caucasus coverage.
Another episode followed shortly thereafter at an Extraordinary Conference of the 56-member Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Russian delegation called for this event to discuss the ratification of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. Shortly after a week of fruitless negotiations, Russia suspended its compliance with the CFE Treaty.
In-between all these events, a Russian official suspected of espionage was arrested in Austria to the traditional accompaniment of media frenzy accusing Russia of returning to its Soviet ways.
In contrast, once Anna Netrebko, the Russian-Austrian opera star, makes her appearance in the world’s musical capital, all of these worries will be easily forgotten. Who is this recently naturalized soprano from Russia?
The 36-year-old native of Krasnodar Territory received her vocal training in St. Petersburg. A couple of years following her acclaimed 2001 debut at the Salzburg Festival, Austria granted her citizenship. But unlike the Soviet days when ?migr? artists were banned in their homeland, in 2005 Netrebko received Russia’s highest award, from President Putin, in the field of arts and literature – the State Prize.
Since the 1994 opera debut, her fame has spread far beyond the classical music audience. From New York to Vienna and from Berlin to London, her acting talents are as highly praised as the supreme quality of her voice.
“Everybody dreams of seeing her live”, says Ludmilla Mogilevsky, a Russian-Viennese concertgoer. Tickets to her appearances are usually snapped up in a matter of one or two hours after they go on sale and lines for standing room tickets almost double once she is in the cast.
A brand-new tribute to “AnnaMania” comes from the national media. In the Austrian capital, a new magazine for the beau monde, First, has just been launched, featuring Anna on the cover of its premier edition. Whereas this belle is being carried on the wave of an economic boom, the capital wealth of the young diva’s considerable class is shamelessly exploited in its pages.
An ever growing number of people, however, are not only seduced by the mild mannered singer, but also by Anna the glamour girl. She does not hesitate to appear off-stage, including dutifully receiving scores of fans to sign programs after the performances – an exercise that few performers do these days. Her striking looks have been predictably exploited by the telecom business as well as the fashion and cosmetics industries.
It is her own PR management, however, that is “increasingly overdoing it,” says Hans, a senior visitor at Netrebko’s only performance in Vienna during the second half of this year. “For a singer with such fantastic qualities, one may assume that she does not need this exuberant PR campaign.”
Few people know that the raven-haired product of St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater also stands out for her commitment to charitable causes. In representing Europe for SOS Children’s Villages, which is headquartered in Austria; only Lord Richard Attenborough appears next to her as this organization’s celebrity partner.
Eagerness and curiosity are given a fresh impetus when the Salzburg or Viennese cultural program announces her appearance only as a singer, such as in Giovanni Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (1736), which was shown in November in Vienna and Moscow. The Latin religious text is indeed being rendered with a unique directness in pitch. Furthermore, while virtually standing in place on this rare occasion, in duets with Andreas Scholl and also as a solo voice next to this German countertenor, Netrebko can still be observed acting. At the same time, the listener may duly conclude that her particular diction brings one as close as possible to the divine essence of this lamentation.
“No one listens to us!” lamented the head of the Russian delegation at the OSCE press conference last June. That may change if Anna Netrebko becomes closer identified with her native country. Russia and most of the world definitely see Netrebko as Russian, and she continuously speaks of her Russianness in interviews.
While she was allowed to retain her Russian citizenship when the Austrian government granted her Austrian passport in 2006 for “special merits,” in Austria many people tend to see her as belonging here. A senior listener at the Pergolesi concert sees it differently: “She’s one of us; we think of her as an Austrian singer.” Whereas Wolfgang Berger and his wife used to leave the country to enjoy their most lionized “countrywoman” wherever she performs, the same stand is taken by them: “She is an Austrian”, Frau Berger responded without the blink of an eye, looking forward to La Traviata in London in January 2008.
It is logical that the hype cannot be extended to Russia, because this country’s cultural calendar shows no more than an incidental event with the “foreign” star. There is no need for her old fellow countrymen to feel less than proud of her, however, because nobody could do better for Russian PR than this rising star.
And the Russian public is unequivocal in perceiving Netrebko as Russian and feeling proud for her international success.
“Of course, she is a Russian singer,” said prominent Russian music critic Andrei Zolotov Sr. “Whether or not she is an Austrian citizen is her private matter, and I dare say nobody in Russia cares about it. We do care that she rarely performs in Russia, but that is a different question. The Russian public loves young and talented singers, especially if they are beautiful. The combination of singing talent, acting gift and feminine beauty has always been highly valued in Russia, and we do not betray this tradition.”
For a happily smiling Scholl just after the concert, this is about music; nationality is not important, and he thinks of his eastern colleague as “sweet and easy-going.” Never since the times of Empress Elizabeth has a woman attained similar popularity among the Austrian public. In the end, apart from portraying Sissi, the lovely Romy Schneider could hardly hope for such country-wide adulation. So, Anna's popularity can grow unparalleled, in particular from the perspective of Russian PR.
Peter de Bourgraaf is a freelance diplomatic historian and founder of www.diplogo.at |
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