By the time I got to the Royal Opera and Ballet’s new production of “Tosca” at the end of September, most of the hubbub had died down. The protests around Netrebko’s performance had withered, and her performance was acclaimed – the diva triumphant in the face of politics. So too had dissolved important questions that had rumbled away at the RBO about the inconsistencies in its relationship to Ukraine and Gaza, all brought to the fore by the pro-Palestinian onstage protest from dancer Daniel Perry during the curtain call of July’s “Il trovatore.”
