Breaking: Frenchman will be the next head of La Scala

Breaking: Frenchman will be the next head of La Scala

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norman lebrecht

June 18, 2019

The board decided this morning not to renew the ever-contentious Alexander Pereira for a second five-year term.

His successor is tipped to be Dominique Meyer, outgoing head of the Vienna State Opera, where he has stabilised the finances and broken all attendance records.

Italian media say his appointment will be ratified next week.

Meyer, 63, from an Alsatian diplomatic background, is one of the most quietly effective leaders in his field.

Comments

  • Bogda says:

    Seems to be a good match. But it would make La Scala even more irrelevant in the operatic world. Vienna just might be saved.

    • stehplatz says:

      Netrebko, Stemme, Gubanova, Florez, Beczala, Kunde, Antonenko, Alvarez, Petean & Thielemann conducting “Die Frau” within two weeks – irrelevant?

      • Bogda says:

        And that’s supposed to make it relevant? Big name stars don’t make an Opera company great. It’s overall constant quality of productions. Not a single important or even interesting production came out during Meyer’s tenure in Vienna. Even the “star” numbers have gone dramatically down, not to mention quality of conducting.
        As for 150yr celebration, sure there were some great names, and FroSch was musically brilliant. But one does not judge a success by one week of performances.
        Look at the Met, almost every night there are “stars” performing, but it’s a dying theater. Vienna under Meyer was heading that same way.

        • Rgiarola says:

          Are you saying that the MD Riccardo Chailly had been agreeing with such low level productions? Because it would include him as guilty as for the things you are accusing La Scalla concerning Artistic quality. Don’t try to say it is not, unless you really don’t know his duties and his power. Ask Pereira about that, specially now.

      • Ned Keene says:

        Facts don’t matter to people like Bogda – so puffed up with his own piffle.

  • Pedro says:

    If Dominique Meyer can bring to La Scala in two successive days Frau and Chénier with the same casts he had in Vienna a few days ago, I will be very happy!

    • HELENE ADAM says:

      La Scala had the exactly same cast before Wien in Andrea Chénier fort the beginning of the previous season (December 2017) but you don’t remember that…funny…

  • Jonathan Sutherland says:

    Unbelievable. How can a dreary Alsatian accountant with the personality of a provincial undertaker who can’t even read music be given the opportunity to extirpate two of Europe’s most important opera houses? One can only hope that his tenure at La Scala will be less than his miserable séjour at the Opéra de Paris. Götterdämmerung indeed.

    • Ned Keene says:

      Which opera houses have you run, then? Managing the coat-check doesn’t count as ‘running’.

      • Vienna callind says:

        You don’t need to run an opera house to be able to see that the Alsatian undertaker has run the Wiener Staatsoper into the ground.

        • Saxon Broken says:

          Norman writes: “stabilised the finances and broken all attendance records”.

          Why do you claim “run into the ground”?

          Personally I like “boring but competent”. I want the melodrama to be on the stage, where it belongs.

    • Jonathan says:

      He was never at the Opéra de Paris. At least get your facts straight.

  • AndrewB says:

    Dominique Meyer made a fine job of running the Theatre des Champs Elysees a few years ago with well programmed seasons and a good reputation among the participating singers / musicians. His calm , capable style is actually a relief compared to certain more showy directors who lack the ability to run a theatre.

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