Anti-Putin Protest Greets Met Premiere
At last! Some genuine excitement on a Met stage! Thursday night, a protester carrying a sign criticizing the policies of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia climbed over the orchestra pit and onto the stage at the Metropolitan Opera as the diva Anna Netrebko took her curtain call after performing the title role in Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta.†The conductor, Valery Gergiev, has been even more vocal in his support of Putin than has Netrebko. I wholeheartedly support the protester, even though it would be equally fair to protest President Obama for, let’s say, drone strikes killing civilians, at a performance featuring pro-Obama American performers. Putin hardly has a monopoly on hateful actions.
