Netrebko will be joined on stage by fellow Russian mezzo-soprano Elena Maximova. The program features works by Italian composers Vincenzo Bellini and Ruggero Leoncavallo, alongside pieces by Russian composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
The Paris engagement is part of a broader European tour beginning May 1, with stops in Italy, Hungary, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, and Spain.
Netrebko’s career has been mired in political controversy for over a decade. In 2012, she endorsed Vladimir Putin for president, and in 2014, she donated money to an opera house in occupied Donetsk while the city was under the control of Russian-backed "DPR" forces.
Following the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Metropolitan Opera in New York terminated her contract after she declined to condemn the war.
Despite the backlash, Netrebko continues to find venues in Europe. On Dec. 7, 2024, she starred in a production at Milan’s La Scala, and in April 2025, she opened the season at London’s Royal Opera House. The London performance proceeded in September 2025 despite protests outside the venue and a collective letter from 50 cultural and political figures in the U.K., France, and New Zealand calling for her removal.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.K., criticized the singer’s continued platform in a column for the Daily Mail, reminding readers that Netrebko famously posed with a separatist "Novorossiya" flag alongside pro-Russian former Ukrainian MP Oleg Tsaryov back in 2014.