Fussy, erratic and arbitrary, the headstrong soprano has infuriated colleagues and administrators and crossed swords with functionaries and hapless hoteliers across the globe. The cast of The Daughter of the Regiment applauded when it was told during rehearsal that Battle had been fired. Battle has a penchant for changing hotel suites in the middle of a stay just to vary the color of her surroundings. The Met's Volpe finally lost patience with her rehearsal shenanigans - which included lateness and even absence, as well as withering criticism of her fellow performers and flaky, almost paranoid demands that they not look at her. Battle's role in the production is now being sung by Harolyn Blackwell.
Somebody has to say stop.
It's a salutary lesson and a help to us all. In these sentiments, he is far from alone. Other impresarios were also harsh in their assessment. In the 1920s the director of the Met, Gatti-Casazza, used to deal firmly with even greater stars, like Caruso. But Caruso wasn't as crazy as Miss Battle seems to be.