Russian Opera star replaced by Ukrainian soprano given green light for discrimination case

Anna Netrebko declined to condemn President Vladimir Putin over Russia's campaign against Ukraine

Anna Netrebko

A federal judge has given the green light for Russian soprano Anna Netrebko to proceed with her lawsuit against the Metropolitan Opera, which she accuses of national origin discrimination. The opera house dropped Ms Netrebko after she declined to condemn President Vladimir Putin over Russia's campaign against Ukraine.

US District Judge Analisa Nadine Torres in Manhattan made her decision public on Wednesday, a day after it was issued. The case will also include a claim of gender discrimination. A trial date for the proceedings has yet to be scheduled.

The Met did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Met General Manager Peter Gelb had demanded that she repudiate Putin shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but she refused and was withdrawn from three Met productions. The Met replaced her with Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska in at least one of those productions.

Last August, Torres dismissed the performer's national original discrimination claim, when she also threw out allegations of defamation and breach of contract. But in her latest decision, the judge wrote that the “allegations support the inference that Netrebko’s replacement by non-Russian artists occurred under circumstances giving rise to at least a ‘minimal’ inference of discrimination.”

FILE - Anna Netrebko, opera singer, gestures during the final applause at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden after singing Lady Macbeth in the performance of ‘Macbeth,’ in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023 ((c) Copyright 2023, dpa (www.dpa.de). Alle Rechte vorbehalten)

The American Guild of Musical Artists filed a grievance on Netrebko’s behalf and arbitrator Howard C. Edelman ruled in February 2023 that the Met violated the union’s collective bargaining agreement when it canceled deals with Netrebko for three productions. Edelman awarded compensation the union calculated at $209,103.48.

Torres allowed Netrebko to proceed with her separate allegation of gender discrimination under the New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law. She said the Met treated Netrebko's male counterparts with connections to Putin and the Russian government more favorably. She cited bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin and baritones Igor Golovatenko and Alexey Markov, who have continued to sing at the Met.