Lisbon’s opera is shut by strike
mainThe Sao Carlos has been forced to cancel its last five performances of La Boheme due to a strike by technical and artistic staff.
The unions say with strike will continue until their members receive parity with the higher-paid Companhia Nacional de Bailado.
The next production at risk is the Don Quixote ballet.
Finally! A total crap hole!!
Why do these workers want parity with another company? Does that make any sense? Have the players in the Virginia Symphony asked for parity with the Boston Symphony players? Arts organizations are like families or businesses –
some are more successful (and wealthier) than others and can therefore afford better “benefits” to their members.
Both government funded and doing precisely the same work. If you bothered to investigate how poorly paid the Portuguese cultural scene is you might think otherwise about your ill informed comment
JM: Er…you seem confused about how the arts works in Europe. Both are largely funded by the Portuguese government. Hence “parity” is something reasonable to ask for.
We will sing (or croon) the fado.
With two exceptions, during Ribeiro da Fonte and Pinamonti tenures, the São Carlos has lived below its great historical standards since 1981, when João Paes, before leaving the directorship after six excellent seasons, presented the last coherent season with 12 operas, and international singers such as James King in Ariadne, Jeanine Altmeyer in Walküre, Renato Bruson in Macbeth, and a Fledermaus with Kunz and Wächter, among other works. After that, the São Carlos invited again episodically such stars as Kraus, Bergonzi, Cappuccilli, Cossotto and Zampieri but the diversity and the coherence have gone.