The gilded doors of an opera star's private sanctuary may soon swing open for an uninvited audience—not adoring fans, but city inspectors armed with clipboards and suspicion. A St. Petersburg court has greenlit utility workers to enter the disputed apartment of soprano Anna Netrebko, following allegations of unauthorized renovations lurking behind its ornate facade.
Like a poorly tuned violin, this dispute has screeched since 2023, when district authorities first petitioned the court. Their concern? Whether the prima donna’s riverside residence on Pechatnikov Street underwent structural pirouettes without bureaucratic applause. The verdict now echoes with financial penalties: a 20,000-ruble monthly fine for delayed compliance, plus a 6,000-ruble state duty—a fiscal encore siphoned straight into city coffers.
For Netrebko, whose voice once commanded opera houses, the ruling strikes a dissonant chord. The court’s decision, delivered with the dry finality of a gavel, contrasts sharply with the theatrical secrecy surrounding the apartment’s interior. What exactly inspectors hope to find remains speculative—perhaps walls demolished like third-act plot twists or plumbing rerouted like an avant-garde libretto.
Meanwhile, the Federal Bailiffs Service has taken center stage in enforcing the order. Their involvement adds a layer of bureaucratic choreography to the drama, ensuring the city’s inspection ballet proceeds—whether the diva leaves the lights on or not.
As the saga unfolds, one thing’s certain: in the opera of urban governance, there are no understudies when the state demands its solo.
