Soprano Anna Netrebko, once one of the biggest box office draws at the New York Metropolitan Opera, sued the company and general manager Peter Gelb on Friday, alleging defamation, breach of contract and other violations related to the company’s decision. institution cut ties with it after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Manhattan, seeks at least $360,000 in damages for lost performances and rehearsal fees. Netrebko claims the Met caused “severe mental and emotional distress” including “depression, humiliation, shame, stress and anxiety, and emotional pain and suffering.”
The Met withdrew the Russian soprano from future engagements shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Gelb had demanded that Netrebko disown Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Met and Peter Gelb have used Anna Netrebko as a scapegoat in their campaign to distance themselves from Russia and support Ukraine,” the 51-year-old soprano’s representatives said in a statement.
There was no immediate response to the Netrebko lawsuit from the Met or Gelb.
The Musical Artists Union of America filed a grievance on Netrebko’s behalf, and arbitrator Howard C. Edelman ruled in February that the Met violated the union’s collective bargaining agreement when it canceled engagements with Netrebko to appear on “Don Carlo” and “La Forza del Destino” by Verdi and “Andrea Chénier” by Giordano. He awarded the soprano severance pay for the missed performances, which the union estimated at more than $209,000.
Netrebko, who made his Met debut in 2002, was to receive the company’s top fee of $17,000 per performance, according to the lawsuit.
Edelman’s decision noted that Netrebko voluntarily withdrew from performances of Wagner’s “Lohengrin” and Puccini’s “Turandot” and was owed nothing for them.
The lawsuit alleges breach of additional agreements for 40 performances of Puccini’s “Tosca” and Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” during the 2024-25 season and Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” and Verdi’s “Macbeth” in 2025-26. Going beyond the scope of arbitration, the lawsuit claims that Netrebko was discriminated against because of her nationality.
Netrebko alleges that the Met and Gelb “damaged Netrebko’s relationship with the public, including fomenting protests against his performances” and “the reputation caused by Gelb and the Met has caused other opera houses and cultural institutions in the United States to refrain from hire Netrebko”. She points out that Netrebko was forced to sell her New York City apartment at a loss.
The lawsuit says that “due to the Met’s requirement that Netrebko issue public statements opposing the Russian government’s actions, Russian politicians have denounced Netrebko, Russian theater companies have canceled their contracts with her, the Russian public has criticized her.” on social media and in the Russian press, and Netrebko and his family and friends in Russia have been at risk of harm, retaliation, and action by the Russian government.”
While he was absent from the United States, Netrebko opened Italy’s Arena di Verona centennial season in June with a new production of Verdi’s “Aida.”
She is scheduled to perform this month at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and her 2023-24 season includes engagements with the Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin, the Vienna State Opera, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and the Paris Opera. .
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2023-08-04 19:17:30
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