Anna Netrebko's debut at the Met in 1998

One often reads that Anna Netrebko made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera of New York in Prokofiev's War and Peace in 2002. In fact, it was not like that, as Anna made her debut at the Met in a Kirov Opera Gala Concert on 23. April 1998, opening the Kirov Opera Festival. Valery Gergiev conducted the Kirov Opera Chorus, Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Kirov Orchestra. Anna Netrebko sang the Lyudmila's Cavatina from Glinka's "Ruslan and Lyudmila".

Within this 1998 Kirov Opera Festival at the Met, Anna Netrebko sang also the role of Louisa in "Betrothal in a Monastery", conducted by Valery Gergiev, on 25. April and 2. and 9. May 1998 and the role of Lyudmila in "Ruslan and Lyudmila", conducted by Alexander Titov, on 29. April and 8. May 1998. Details about the casts for those performances can be found at the Anna Netrebko Performances Database.

Programme
Kirov Opera Gala Concert
Metropolitan Opera House, New York 23. April 1998

Kirov Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Metropolitan Opera Chorus
Conductor: Valery Gergiev

1. PART
Piotr Tchaikovsky: Queen of Spades
Act II, Scene 1, Highlights: Opening Chorus, Chorus of Shepherds and Shepherdesses, Daphnis and Chloe Duet and Final Chorus - Marianna Tarasova (Chloe), Olga Trifonova (Daphnis), Nikolai Putilin (Pluto), Nikolai Gassiev (Master of Ceremonies), Kirov Opera Chorus & Met Opera Chorus

Mikhail Glinka: Ruslan & Lyudmila
Lyudmila's Cavatina - Anna Netrebko & Kirov Opera Chorus

Piotr Tchaikovsky: Mazeppa
Act II, Scene 2 - Duet - Olga Guryakova & Larissa Diadkova

Giacomo Puccini: Manon Lescaut
"Sola Perduta Abbandonata" - Galina Gorchakova

Giuseppe Verdi: La Forza del Destino (1862 version)
Act III, Scene 2 - Qual Sangue Sparsi! - Gegam Grigorian & Kirov Opera Chorus

Giuseppe Verdi: Otello
Si pel ciel - Vladimir Galuzin & Nikolai Putilin

Piotr Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Act 1, Scene 1 - Olga Markova-Mikahilenko, Kirov Opera Chorus & Met Opera Chorus

Piotr Tchaikovsky: Iolanta
Love Duet - Marina Shaguch & Yuri Marusin

Giacomo Puccini: Turandot
Nessun Dorma - Vladimir Galuzin & Met Opera Chorus

Giuseppe Verdi: La Forza del Destino (1862 version)
Final Scene - Galina Gorchakova, Gegam Grigorian, Nikolai Putilin, Sergei Aleksashkin, Georgy Zastavny & Kirov Opera Chorus

Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Act 1, Coronation Scene - Vladimir Ognovenko, Konstantin Pluzhnikov, Kirov Opera Chorus & Met Opera Chorus

2. PART
Alexander Borodin: Prince Igor
Act 2. Polovetsian - Mikhail Kit, Gegam Grigorian, others & Kirov Opera Chorus