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The Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili was once one of opera\u2019s most sought-after stars, renowned for stirring, powerful performances in works like Bizet\u2019s \u201cCarmen\u201d and Verdi\u2019s \u201cIl Trovatore<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n But after she began experiencing vocal problems<\/a> during pregnancy in 2021, her career suffered. The Metropolitan Opera canceled her engagements and Rachvelishvili lost work at other opera companies.<\/p>\n Now Rachvelishvili, 40, is suing both the Met and the union representing her, seeking more than $400,000 in compensation for lost work. In a complaint filed in late March, she accused the Met of breaching its contracts with her, and she said that her union, the American Guild of Musical Artists, had failed to properly represent her.<\/p>\n Rachvelishvili\u2019s lawsuit claimed that the Met had been aware that she had \u201csuffered complications from her pregnancy and birth affecting her voice and vocal range.\u201d The suit described her as being \u201cdisabled due to her pregnancy\u201d and accused the opera company of discriminating against her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n The Met said it could not comment on pending litigation.<\/p>\n Her complaint argues that the Met should compensate her because of a contractual agreement known as \u201cpay or play,\u201d which requires institutions to pay contracted performers even if they later decide not to engage them.<\/p>\n But under the collective bargaining agreement, the Met retains some ability to avoid paying singers who do not meet its artistic standards. According to the agreement, the Met does not have to compensate singers it deems are \u201cvocally or physically unfit for performance.\u201d<\/p>\n Her lawsuit accuses her union, the American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents opera singers, of failing \u201cto file a grievance and proceed to arbitration relating to discrimination based upon plaintiff\u2019s pregnancy or other applicable law.\u201d<\/p>\n The union declined to comment.<\/p>\n The case is notable in part because Rachvelishvili\u2019s lawyer, Leonard D. Egert, used to lead the union she is suing. Egert served as national executive director of the guild from 2016 to 2022. (More recently, he had served as general counsel and general manager of San Francisco Ballet and as a consultant to the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale in San Francisco, whose singers last year voted to unionize.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Egert said in an interview that his former union should have done more to push the Met to compensate Rachvelishvili for the canceled engagements.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be logical for them to do so,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cBut they did not.\u201d<\/p>\n Rachvelishvili, who made her debut at the Met in 2011, was renowned for the power of her voice. The Met\u2019s general manager, Peter Gelb, once hailed her as the \u201cgreatest dramatic mezzo-soprano singing,\u201d and Riccardo Muti, the eminent conductor, had called her<\/a> \u201cwithout doubt the best Verdi mezzo-soprano today on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n