She didn’t depart 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 high quality,” she stated in courtroom papers.
Rachvelishvili, who gave start to her daughter in November 2021, admitted she was “briefly restricted in her very highest vocal vary” after turning into a mother however stated there was by no means an affect on her work.
“She was nonetheless always prepared, keen and in a position to carry out the roles for which she was contracted,” she stated in courtroom papers, noting she has since “recovered her full vocal vary.”
She claims the Met and the union discriminated towards her as a result of she was pregnant.
“I cherished acting on the Met stage and seemed ahead to returning after the start of my first youngster. I used to be shocked that I used to be not given an opportunity to get well and all of my contracts for the subsequent two years have been instantly canceled with out pay,” she stated in a press release.
“After supporting the Met all through the pandemic, I’m disenchanted, to say the least, at this dangerous therapy.”
Rachvelishvili, who hails from the previous Soviet republic of Georgia and now lives in Tbilisi, was as soon as heralded because the “biggest dramatic mezzo-soprano” by her Metropolitan Opera boss, Peter Gelb. In 2018, conductor Riccardo Muti declared her “one of the best Verdi mezzo-soprano right this moment on the planet,” in response to The New York Occasions.
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 stated in courtroom 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 looking for unspecified damages towards the opera and the guild.
“The cancellations on the Met negatively affected different bookings all through the world,” stated Rachvelishvili’s legal professional, Leonard Egert. “Opera singers are booked out years upfront. This created a adverse cascade occasion for her. It had a devastating impact however she’s coming again — slowly however absolutely.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Opera declined to touch upon the litigation.
