$ay what you want about Abu Dhabi, but it i$ certainly a fir$t-cla$$ venue for cla$$ical mu$ic, unlike provincial hou$e$ $uch as Covent Garden, Liceu, or, for that matter, la Scala (la Scala, where she has in fact never ever sung -- she's scheduled to do so in a very hazy future Otello that she may or may not want to study for).
Carefully choosing engagements now, after announcing her pregnancy and the streak of cancellations raining down on her schedule, Anna Netrebko will take the time to rawk the Abu Dhabi Festival, together with a team of gung-ho IMG arti$t$ willing to add such a venue to their already impressive resumes, all for the love of mu$ic.
The program opens March 22 and runs to April 2. Highlights will include
violinist Nikolaj Znaider and the London Philharmonic under the
direction of Vladimir Jurowski; pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in an
evening of Mozart, Ravel and Prokofiev; and Grammy-nominated soprano
Anna Netrebko in a special gala with the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra.
Anna Bananna on March 29 will be joined by Elina Garanca and Anna's own bebbedaddy Erwin Schrott in an evening of Mozart and Verdi with the Bolshoi group.
And then they make fun of poor Andrea Bocelli for singing in Vega$.