Serge Dorny’s expenses cost Lyon 10% of its subsidy

Serge Dorny’s expenses cost Lyon 10% of its subsidy

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norman lebrecht

October 31, 2017

The Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region has slashed its subsidy to the Opéra de Lyon by 10 percent in response to the grotesque expenses claims of its director, Serge Dorny.

The Belgian administrator claimed more than 100,000 Euros to support his first-class lifestyle.

The region has now cut 300,000 Euros from his subsidy.

Dorny has been in charge at Lyon since 2003.

Comments

  • Will Duffay says:

    Did Serge spill NL’s pint back in 1995 or something?

    • Max Grimm says:

      NL’s pint in 1995?
      You could drain and refill Loch Morar with all the pints Serge has spilled over the years.

  • John Borstlap says:

    This is the type of people who destroy the art form, want to skim it for their own gain. Such parasitic behavior should be publicly shown and condemned…. shame on them.

  • Edgar says:

    L’Opera, c’est moi! Pas du tout, monsieur Ego!

  • janssens says:

    ok for freedom of expression , not ok for non accountable nonsense, not ok with people just accepting whatever press says without the slightest form of critical approach.

    Report of the city of LYon clearly concludes in no irregularity whatsoever in spending.
    Personal harassment of some frustrated loosers who only post anonymously?

    • EricB says:

      ah, ah, the same “city of Lyon” who is financing the opera and who is supposed to have controlled the use of that money through the Board ? Yeah, they’d better say there was “no probleme whatsover” or they can be held responsible for their total lack of control.
      Frustrated losers ? And you are the one to talk about “non accountable nonsense” ? Just look at yourself. When a large majority of the staff has repeatedly signed petitions against this man, before and after his Dresden shortcoming, it’s not just “some frustrated losers”.

  • Liliane says:

    What makes this story all the more disgusting is that Serge Dorny had already been in Lyon, since 2003, where all of his terrible excesses and arrogance were well know, when he left Lyon to take up a position in Dresden in 2014. That turned out to be a disaster, as he never even took up his position in Dresden. As many readers here remember and against the wishes of a large number of Opéra de Lyon staff, he was amazingly reinstated in his job in Lyon in 2014. Now this news comes out, which isn’t news to anyone knowledgeable about this man, his arrogance, inflated ego, his total disrespect and abuse of public funds and his gross incompetence. The people who should be blamed and who should be held accountable are all of those officials who were warned, many many many times, about this man and chose to do nothing and even worse, reinstated him in Lyon even when they had no contractual reason to do so following his very brief stay and scandal in Dresden. Hopefully the action that has now been taken is a sign of some long overdue change in France, a place where people like Serge Dorny are able to operate and live off the public purse with total impunity, like so many of the French elites have done for decades. The corruption of France, at least in this area, is hopefully coming to an end and the many French public sector “parasites” like Sege Dorny will see their corrupt and immoral actions stopped and hopefully they will be banned from any position of trust in the professional world. The rot in France is pervasive and particularly in the arts and music sector. More and more people are fed up with the presence of these outdated and pretentious buffoons running and ruining the arts in France.

    • EricB says:

      No one could sum it up better.

    • Eric B says:

      “even when they had no contractual reason to do so following his very brief stay and scandal in Dresden.”

      Well, that is part of the problem : Dorny had an unlimited contract (CDI) with the City of Lyon, unlike the common terms in the profession, and he had not yet resigned from Lyon before he had signed his contract with Dresden. So, legally, he was still contracted to Lyon, and they had no other choice than to reinstate him (or probably pay absurd legal fees to get rid of him).
      The City of Lyon still has not changed the rules and are offering again an unlimited time contract to the newcomer, which is the most legally absurd thing one has ever seen in this profession.

  • kundry says:

    I agree with Liliane. Dorny is an impostor , a poser and a very slippery individual. He lasted so long in Lyon because of the sick environment of that house and the devious behavior of the Lyon politicians in charge – it goes back many years and probably it reflects some of that city characteristics. The building itself is a stupid architectural pretense, with anti – opera acoustics and atmosphere. Apparently , Dorny is slated to go to Munchen – good luck to Bayern!

  • Eric B says:

    “The Belgian administrator claimed more than 100,000 Euros to support his first-class lifestyle.”

    You forgot to precise “annually, for almost all of his time there”.

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