She didn’t go away on a excessive observe.
The Metropolitan Opera booted one of the best mezzo soprano “on the planet” as soon as she struggled to hit her excessive notes, the singer claims in a Manhattan Federal Courtroom lawsuit.
Anita Rachvelishvili was contracted to carry out varied exhibits on the legendary Manhattan opera, together with “Aida,” “La Gioconda,” “Carmen” and “Don Carlo” from 2022 to 2025 — a deal value upwards of $400,000.
However as a substitute of utilizing her “sonorous voice” to belt out the famed works, the opera cancelled her remaining performances in January 2023, accusing Rachvelishvili, 40, of “deterioration of vocal quality,” she mentioned in court docket papers.
Rachvelishvili, who gave beginning to her daughter in November 2021, admitted she was “temporarily limited in her very highest vocal range” after turning into a mother however mentioned there was by no means an impression on her work.
“She was nonetheless at all times ready, willing and able to perform the roles for which she was contracted,” she mentioned in court docket papers, noting she has since “recovered her full vocal range.”
She claims the Met and the union discriminated towards her as a result of she was pregnant.
“I loved performing on the Met stage and looked forward to returning after the birth of my first child. I was shocked that I was not given a chance to recover and all of my contracts for the next two years were immediately canceled without pay,” she mentioned in an announcement.
“After supporting the Met throughout the pandemic, I am disappointed, to say the least, at this harmful treatment.”
Rachvelishvili, who hails from the previous Soviet republic of Georgia and now lives in Tbilisi, was as soon as heralded because the “greatest dramatic mezzo-soprano” by her Metropolitan Opera boss, Peter Gelb. In 2018, conductor Riccardo Muti declared her “the best Verdi mezzo-soprano today on the planet,” in response to The New York Instances.
Including insult to harm, the Metropolitan Opera initially agreed to purchase out Rachvelishvili’s contract, solely to renege later and refuse to pay the $400,000, she alleged.
So she turned to her union — however they didn’t go to bat for her, she mentioned in court docket papers.
The American Guild of Musical Artists allegedly declined to file a grievance on Rachvelishvili’s behalf, she claimed in her authorized submitting.
Now Rachvelishvili, who returned to performing in November in Naples, Italy, is in search of unspecified damages towards the opera and the guild.
“The cancellations at the Met negatively affected other bookings throughout the world,” mentioned Rachvelishvili’s lawyer, Leonard Egert. “Opera singers are booked out years in advance. This created a negative cascade event for her. It had a devastating effect but she’s coming back — slowly but surely.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Opera declined to touch upon the litigation.
