(Credit; Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera)

Following Saturday night’s opening performance of “Turandot” at the Metropolitan Opera, soprano Liudmyla Monastryska came out to take her final curtain call wrapped in the Ukrainian flag.

Monastyrska, a Ukrainian soprano, was returning to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time since 2017 when she appeared in a production of “Nabucco.” The soprano made her debut in 2012 and had been a steady prescence with the company for the ensuing five years, taking on such works as “Aida,” “Nabucco,” “Tosca,” and “Cavalleria Rusticana.”

She was not originally planned for this run of performances, but stepped in when Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb publicly broke ties with soprano Anna Netrebko over her alleged ties to Vladimir Putin and her initial reticence to speak out against the Russian dictator. Monastyrska is also now slated to take over “Tosca” next season from Hibla Gerzmava, a known and avid Putin supporter who was originally programmed when the 2022-23 season was announced; Monastyrska was not originally scheduled for any other performances at the Met Opera’s 2022-23 season when the season was originally announced in late February.

Since Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, Monastyrska has been vocal in speaking out against the war. She also came together with Russian mezzo Ekaterina Gubanova in a show of unity when the two artists hugged at the curtain call following a performance of “Aida” at the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli in Italy.