The opera, housed in the Estonia Theater in Tallinn, has also opened up its own internal audit into allegations, reported by investigative paper Eesti Ekspress, which mostly concern corruption and alleged workplace bullying.

The National Opera Supervisory Board chair, Ivari Ilja, said: "The most serious allegation, which also appeared in the headline of the Eesti Ekspress article, is that roles at the Estonian National Opera can be purchased. In addition to everything that may already have been reported in the media, the supervisory board decided to commission an internal audit, to thoroughly investigate the issue. On July 1, the Estonian National Opera also filed a report with the police, so that this potential corruption case could be investigated in depth."

The supervisory board chair also conceded that there are issues concerning the relationship between the management and Estonian opera singers working abroad, adding solutions are being considered to prevent a recurrence of this in the future.

"We are looking at how to improve this cooperation, and how to involve these singers, who are very important to us, more frequently in Estonian National Opera productions," Ilja went on.

The supervisory board also decided to recommend management introduce systems to ensure the working environment meets modern standards.

According to articles by Eesti Ekspress and LP, employees have long complained about a poor working atmosphere at the Estonian National Opera. Heldur Harry Põlda, the soloists' elected representative, said tensions, plus a general lack of trust, have been welling up for years, and that management has repeatedly been informed of the problems.

"I'm not standing here in a tie for no reason. There really have been plenty of tensions over the years, and we've had our share of internal dramas. There was a faint hope that everything could be resolved behind closed doors, but since it has now become public, we have to deal with it on both fronts," Põlda told "Aktuaalne kaamera". Complaints have included accusations from members of the opera choir of serious workplace bullying by conductor Heli Jürgenson, whose employment with the Estonian National Opera has since been terminated.

"This is a sensitive issue for us, and we will not comment on it in the media," Estonian National Opera director-general Ott Maaten told "Aktuaalne Kaamera".

Furthermore, several leading Estonian opera singers currently working abroad have accused the theater's casting director, Helen Lepalaan, of a corrupt casting policy that has pushed artists away from their home theater to seek work elsewhere.

"These are indeed very serious allegations, and we have taken them very seriously. We are addressing the media's corruption allegations. As of today, we have filed a report with the police and launched an internal review. The police investigation will also begin immediately, and we want to reach a very, very clear conclusion," Maaten added.

Employees had reportedly hoped the supervisory board's meeting, held on an extraordinary basis, would lead to constructive steps emerging toward restoring a peaceful working environment.

"We are trying to resolve this as quickly and efficiently as possible so that we can restore peace and create a good workplace where everyone can finally focus on their work. These are creative people, and we need inner peace in order to make our art," Põlda said on this.

Eesti Ekspress on June 25 reported that internationally acclaimed National Opera mezzo-soprano Monika-Evelin Liiv had written to members of the Estonian National Opera's supervisory board and management, arguing that leading Estonian soloists who have international careers too were effectively being excluded from performing at the national opera.

Liiv said the main reason for this was Lepalaan provides paid singing lessons to Estonia soloists, while also deciding who is cast in which role, with the result that many internationally successful Estonian opera singers have not appeared at the theater – in other words, those paying for singing lessons via Lepalaan were getting preferential treatment when it came to casting roles.

Maaten responded to these allegations by confirming that the opera was taking them seriously.

Following this first article, Eesti Ekspress this week published a report on the alleged tensions within the Estonia opera choir, which culminated in Jürgenson being ousted from her position by management after a portion of the choir refused to continue working with her.

Ilja wrote in an opinion piece published by ERR that dissatisfaction and tensions within the organization had been around for a long time, adding that this was more a cultural issue and not something that could be boiled down to individual incidents or personalities. According to Ilja, ultimately the root cause of the opera's issues is the theater's persistent underfunding, which has a knock-on effect on the entire organization — soloists, the choir, orchestra musicians, ballet company and back office staff alike — while also limiting repertoire planning and the number of guest soloists who can be hosted.

The National Opera, as with many other public bodies in Estonia, has an independent supervisory board, headed by Ilja, in addition to its own management board, headed by Maaten.

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