Netrebkoismus, what is it?
“The biggest danger I see today is with ‘Netrebkoismus’” said the Vienna State Opera director Ioan Holender in an interview with Bühne magazine. “It is all about the events and what’s around them. We see what is playing out in Salzburg.” Mr. Holender went further to say that theater managers are increasingly more interested on media coverage than judging the quality of singers and hiring quality singers. “Directors not only do not understand the voice, they have no interest in understanding it.”
Mr. Holender has also criticized the new Austrian law preventing gifts of over 100 Euros from being given to sponsors and business associates. A common practice of the Salzburg festival was the giving of free tickets to donors; the tickets are usually worth well over 100 Euros each and are very difficult to come by. “That all gifts over 100 Euros are criminalized as payoffs… I can understand why sponsors are nervous, to attend operas and concerts with tickets from business partners.”
Director Martin Kusej, who will produce The Rake’s Progress at Theatre an der Wien with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, had this to say in the trade magazine article: “The Opera industry is a machine that is a total enemy of the arts.” He also suggested that it was about time for opera singers and directors to stand together and “hurl a cruise missile” at the establishment for a new beginning with a clean slate.
[...] to Paris (jet rental 20,000 euros). I suppose this is what Ioan Holender meant by Netrebkoismus (see Netrebkoismus article here for clarification). Ironically Netrebkoismus did not involve Netrebko herself. The media was very disappointed that [...]