American soprano Angel Blue announced that she would be stepping down from her role in La Traviata in Verona, Italy. The performance would have marked her debut at the Arena Di Verona opera festival.
In an Instagram post quoted by Deadline (her account @angeljoyblue seems to have since been disabled or deleted), she told her followers the reason: the use of blackface in the Arena di Verona production of Aida, starring Liudmyla Monastyrska and Anna Netrebko, among others.
“Dear Friends, Family, and Opera Lovers, I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that I will not be singing La Traviata at Arena di Verona this summer as planned,” Blue wrote.
“Let me be perfectly clear: the use of blackface under any circumstances, artistic or otherwise, is a deeply misguided practice based on archaic theatrical traditions which have no place in modern society. It is offensive, humiliating and outright racist.”
Because of public pressure by Civil Rights activists, blackface is virtually unheard of in North America, although it regularly crops up in European theatre and opera companies. The production of Aida is based on Franco Zeffirelli’s 2002 staging, which specifies the use of blackface.
The Arena’s statement
The Arena of Verona Foundation issued a statement late last week.
“This production’s characteristics were well known when Angel Blue knowingly committed herself to sing at the Arena,” they write. “Every country has different roots, and their cultural and social structures developed along different historical and cultural paths. Sensibilities and approaches on the same subject might widely vary in different parts of the world.”
They continue, “Common convictions have often been reached only after years of dialogue and mutual understanding.” The Arena statement stressed dialogue, “in effort to understand others’ point of view, in respect of consciously assumed artistic obligations.”
The statement reads, “Contraposition, judgments, labeling, lack of dialogue only feed the culture of contrasts, which we totally reject.” They ask for cooperation “to avoid divisions”.
When the blackface issue surfaced in July, a spokesperson for the Arena di Verona told OperaWire that in an interview that they didn’t have a more recent production to use, describing their approach as “philological”. “We must respect the historical truth,” they said.
A few years ago, when the issue of blackface came up, Anna Netrebko not only defended its use, she mocked the people who raised their objections.
Anna Netrebko is not just defending her use of blackface here, she is mocking the people who raised the issue, calling them "low class jerks" and "stupid." 🙅♂️🙅♂️🙅♂️ #opera #racism #ByeAnna https://t.co/S4IG6zU4I6
— Brian Lauritzen (@lauritzen_brian) June 12, 2019
Blue is still listed as starring in the role of Violetta in the July 22 and 30 performances.
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