On November 6, Musical America announced its 2008 Musician of the Year, "continuing a tradition that dates back nearly a half-century, when Leonard Bernstein received the award, in 1960," "the meeting place for the entire performing arts industry" said on its website.
Musical America described Netrebko, a soloist at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg as "a genuine superstar of the 21st century." The magazine said Netrebko will "grace the cover of the 2008 Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts, often referred to in the business as the 'bible' of the industry."
Composer of the Year Kaija Saariaho, Conductor of the Year Robert Spano, Instrumentalist of the Year Charles Rosen, 80, and Ensemble of the Year Chanticleer were also honored in a special ceremony at Lincoln Center in New York City on Thursday.
Previous recipients include Placido Domingo, Leontyne Price, a remarkably endowed Black American soprano, Beverly Sills, the Brooklyn-born opera diva, and Karita Mattila, a leading Finnish opera soprano.
Netrebko is the youngest Russian musician to receive the award. The first Russian to be honored was Composer Igor Stravinsky, followed by Vladimir Horowitz, a Russian-American pianist, George Balanchine, a Russian ballet choreographer of Georgian descent, Nathan Milstein, a Russian violinist who took United States citizenship in 1942, and the remarkable cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.
Together with famous conductor Yury Bashmet and Vladimir Spivakov's Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra the opera diva has also been nominated for the prestigious Grammy Award. The 50th Grammy Awards Ceremony will be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 10, 2008 where Netrebko's Russian Album is up for the Best Classical Vocal Performance category.
One of the most popular sopranos, Anna has sold millions of copies of her discs. In early 2007 U.S. Time magazine placed the singer as one of the top "100 people who shape our world" praising her for "knockout good looks, bewitching charm and a mesmerizing hold on the media."
