Apr 02, 2025 02:31 PM IST Soprano Anna Netrebko to open Royal Opera season, returning after a 6-year absence Soprano Anna Netrebko will return to London’s Royal Opera after a six-year absence to open the 2025-26 season in a new production of Puccini’s “Tosca” that starts Jakub Hrůša’s tenure as music director. Soprano Anna Netrebko to open Royal Opera season, returning after a 6-year absence She is to sing four performances from Sept. 11-21 in a new production by Oliver Mears set in a modern war-torn Rome, the company announced Wednesday. It co-stars Freddie De Tommaso and Gerald Finley. Netrebko also is to appear in four performances of a revival of Puccini’s “Turandot” from Dec. 15-23 and to give a recital on June 24, 2026. She last sung at Covent Garden in April 2019 in Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino.” Scheduled appearances in Verdi’s “Nabucco” in January 2022 were canceled because of European travel restrictions. Netrebko was dropped from future engagements by New York’s Metropolitan Opera shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Met …