A respected music executive and producer, Christopher (“Chris”) Roberts served as the president of Universal Music Group’s Classics and Jazz Division. Christopher Roberts was active in handling Universal Music Group artists as diverse as Lang Lang, Cecilia Bartoli, and Anna Netrebko.

1. ANNA NETREBKO ON
HER LONG-AWAITED
2016 BOLSHOI DEBUT
Christopher Roberts, Universal Music

2. INTRODUCTION
 A respected music executive and producer, Christopher (“Chris”)
Roberts served as the president of Universal Music Group’s Classics
and Jazz Division. Christopher Roberts was active in handling
Universal Music Group artists as diverse as Lang Lang, Cecilia
Bartoli, and Anna Netrebko.
Interviewed by Rossiyskaya Gazeta in late 2016, the operatic
soprano Anna Netrebko spoke about her upcoming Bolshoi Theater
debut in a production of Manon Lescaut that also featured her
husband Yusif Eyvazov in a lead tenor role.
Ms. Netrebko described the performance as particularly meaningful,
given that she had been invited to sing the role of Violetta in La
Traviata a dozen years beforehand. At the time, she declined, as she
felt she was not ready for such a demanding role under the most
intense spotlight possible.

3. ANNA NETREBKO
 Ms. Netrebko also spoke about the importance of
intuition in making repertoire and other career
decisions. She described the role of Tatiana in Eugene
Onegin as one she had struggled with, as her
personality was diametrically opposed to that of the
character. However, as she put it, her art comes
foremost, as she sees herself as an actress who can
subvert her personality to the demands of a defining
role.