Russia Today reports that Anna Netrebko has been hospitalized with pneumonia caused by COVID-19.
The Russian soprano is presumed to have caught the coronavirus at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, where she was participating in a production of Verdi’s Don Carlo. The final performance on Sept. 10 was cancelled after the bass Ildar Abdrazakov, playing Philip II, tested positive.
Netrebko, 48, has put a brave face on the situation in Instagram posts, asserting that she expects to “be fine.” She also defended her decision to continue working.
“I had two choices,” she wrote. “Stay at home and be afraid of getting infected” or “start working, traveling around, performing at the risk of getting sick.
“I unconditionally chose the second and do not regret anything.”
The Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona has announced that Netrebko will not be appearing as Leonora in concert performances of Verdi’s Il Trovatore on Oct. 1 and 4.
