Met Opera marks 1st year of Ukraine war with concert

Emily D’Angelo made her point with attire before singing a single note at the Metropolitan Opera’s concert to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The 28-year-old Canadian mezzo-soprano walked onto the stage Friday night for the Mozart Requiem wearing a dark skirt covered with white tally marks, like on a school chalkboard: four vertical slashes and a diagonal to close out each set of five. There were 365 in all on the outfit created by Berlin designer Esther Perbandt, one to mark each day of Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

“Although an opera house doesn’t have the offensive capacity of an Abrams tank or an F-16 jet, the Metropolitan Opera is proud to be a powerful cultural resource for Ukraine, helping to lead the fight for artistic liberty against (Vladimir) Putin’s cultural propaganda machine,” Met general manager Peter Gelb told an intermission group that included U.N. Ambassadors Sergiy Kyslytsya of Ukraine and Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the U.S. “We demonstrate the free world’s ongoing cultural resolve to defend Ukraine’s liberty in the face of brutal oppression.”

Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted what was titled “For Ukraine: A Concert of Remembrance and Hope,” that also featured Ukrainian tenor Dmytro Popov and bass-baritone Vladyslav Buialskyi and South African soprano Golda Schultz. With the Metropolitan Opera House bathed in the yellow and blue colors on Ukraine’s flag, and an actual flag hung above the stage, they opened with Ukraine’s anthem, followed with the Mozart Requiem and Beethoven’s…