Vienna Opera hires backup for new boss

Vienna Opera hires backup for new boss

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norman lebrecht

February 08, 2018

Sergio Morabito, head dramaturg of Oper Stuttgart, will join Vienna in the same position in October.

His job is to cover for the incoming director Bogdan Roščić, who has no experience of working in an opera house.

The appointment was announced by Roščić’s interim operation, not by the Vienna Opera itself.

Comments

  • Theodore McGuiver says:

    I wonder if they’ll stage any of his productions. Vienna would be thrilled…

  • Sanity says:

    There’s nothing particularly unusual about an incoming Intendant appointing his own Dramaturg, though Mr Morabito should understand that Vienna stands on its tradition…

    • Nik says:

      Does the Staatsoper currently have a Chefdramaturg?

      • Sanity says:

        OPERNDRAMATURGIE: Dr. Andreas Láng & Mag. Oliver Láng

        • Nik says:

          Yes I know, but as far as I’m aware neither of them holds the title Chefdramaturg.
          It seems that Morabito is not replacing anyone. He is being brought into a senior management position which currently does not exist.
          I know that Peter Blaha, Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz and Richard Bletschacher held that title in the past, but not recently.

          • Sanity says:

            Oh, come on Nick; you know very well how transitions work. He obviously feels he needs a Chief Dramaturg (I assume because he is painfully aware that he doesn’t understand the technicalities of running a house and managing repertoire). You can’t really bash him for taking the proper steps to ensure smooth running. And it’s not at all unusual that the transition team handles this. We’ve both seen houses where the incumbent has actively tried to sabotage the incomers…

            My only concern is that he tries to drag Wien into the brave new world of Regietheater, which suits neither their home audience nor their tourist trade. Look how well that went in Glyndebourne…

  • Anon says:

    What a mean spin by Mr. Lebrecht to a quite normal procedure.
    “to cover for” when they have clearly separate fields of responsibilities.

    • norman lebrecht says:

      Normal procedure? Have you ever known an opera house appointment to bypass the opera house itself? This is completely abnormal.

      • a colleague says:

        No, it’s not abnormal. When Claus Helmut Drese was Direktor, the successive team of Eberhard Waechter and Ioan Hollender made their own announcements, and not from the Staatsoper itself. Same here. Roščić’s is not yet direktor, but most likely has an office in the Hanuschgasse, where the Bundestheaterverwaltung reside.

  • Tom says:

    Sergio Morabito is an incredible dramaturg whose productions with Jossi Wieler have helped make Oper Stuttgart the world class house it is. (Opernwelt house of the year 2017) . Vienna are lucky to have him.

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