By ANNE MIDGETTE [NY Times, 27 December 2006]

A certified superstar operatic diva carries a lot of baggage. Not only are there the sundry suitcases, steamer trunks and Vuitton bags that are, by tradition, necessary to transport her various costumes for on and off the stage. There is also a whole freight of expectations, prejudices, comparisons with the past and, in the case of Anna Netrebko, the 35-year-old Russian soprano who is on her way to becoming opera’s biggest megastar since Luciano Pavarotti, relentless media hype.