Vilela took to social media where he wrote, “August 14th, one year ago I arrived in Buenos Aires to work for the first time at @teatrocolon (Teatro Colón), replacing an Argentine lighting designer at the last minute in a new production of ‘Il Turco in Itália.’ I paid for my plane ticket out of my pocket and didn’t have a ‘per diem’, also paying for my food expenses; I didn’t know that I was, literally, paying to work since I still haven’t received my salary to this day. The political ‘crisis’ (before the Argentine elections) was an excuse for absolutely everything, but they promised to honor the contracts before the turn of the year as there was still the production of ‘Madama Butterfly’ (artists have not been paid until today either) to close the season by There, the same one that came to São Paulo Municipal and I, irony of fate, would replace another Argentine illuminator again and, yes, I received it correctly from my country.

“The year turned around, contact ceased, my e-mail demands were responded to formally with contingency apologies from the new government, that they are sorry, etc. I learned that Argentine artists were paid, as their contracts were in local currency, but no foreigner had been paid due to the new government’s contingency. Today I discover that several foreigners were paid, that the decision not to honor the contracts was deliberate – as they continued to produce despite knowing about the pre-election budget cut. I am not the only Brazilian artist who is a victim of this scoundrel and there are many foreign artists who have not yet received their payments.

After a pandemic, having to go through a situation like this in a theater like Colón is revolting. The word DEADMAN does not exist in Spanish (‘estafador’ has almost the same force) I hope they learn and feel ashamed of the selective treatment they give to artists who work hard for a living!”

Vilela has staged several operas throughout his career including “Carmen,” “Pagliacci,” “Pierrot Lunaire,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “Il Barbieri di Siviglia,” and  “Mefistofele,” among others.

OperaWire has reached out to the Teatro Colón for comment and will update this article or provide a follow-up with any comments that the organization might make.

 

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