Just in: Coup d’état at La Scala
OperaThe Mayor of Milan has announced that the head of La Fenice opera in Venice, Fortunato Ortombina, will become Sovrintendente of La Scala in September.
Ortombina, 63, will succeed Dominique Meyer, 68, but the pair will have a year long handover, working together.
Meyer has fallen foul of the Meloni government’s decree that foreigners cannot direct an Italian institution past the age of 70.
No change has been announced to the position of music director, but Ortombina has let it be known that he favours Daniele Gatti to succeed Riccardo Chailly.
There are the same kind of things at La RAI.
Why do politicians insist on meddling with cultural or artistic appointments when they know so little about the industry? It almost inevitably results in lowering of standards.
Because they control the purse strings. If arts organizations want full autonomy, all they have to do is renounce their public funding. Financial independence brings freedom.
Unfortunately operacentric, it has always been thus and shall always be thus. Governments have imposed their will on cultural institutions from time immemorial whether the officials in question are qualified to make the pertinent decisions or not.
He who pays the piper calls the tune
In opera, that has always been the case, whether we like it or not.
The ethnocentricity of Meloni’s “Brothers Italy Party,” which is a direct descendant of Mussolini, is disgusting and anachronistic, if not racist. Putting a conductor in power who was fired from the Concertgebouw due to sexual abuse would be especially problematic and an affront to the women of Italy. Italy’s classical music world suffers from a deeply rooted provincialism and Meloni is only making it worse. So sad for Italia.
You seem to be unaware of the situation. Members of the Concertgebouw soon regretted the dismissal of Gatti on what appear to have been exaggerated or even trumped up accusations. It certainly has not prevented him from finding work at a similar level elsewhere. If they don’t want Chailly at La Scala, Gatti would be an apt replacement.
People with agenda don’t care about facts.
Provide documentation of your claim that the Concertgebouw regrets its decision, and then we can talk.
Whether or not the Concertgebouw regrets its decision is irrelevant, for the maestro has moved on. And why should I want to talk with a Besserwisser like you?
Maybe some members. But other members were already disappointed about his egocentric and sometimes very eccentric way of making music, besides the clear and confirmed episodes of harassment and sexual misconduct.
Maybe some members. But other members were already disappointed about his egocentric and sometimes very eccentric way of making music, besides the clear and confirmed episodes of harassment and sexual misconduct
“Putting a conductor in power who was fired from the Concertgebouw due to sexual abuse would be especially problematic and an affront to the women of Italy.”
In that regard, Germany and not Italy is leading the way with Gatti’s Dresden contract well ahead of any possible Milan appointment.
True.
Lets keep misogyny and racism and nepotism out of music shall we?
The law bars foreigners over 70 from running state-funded institutions. But with Italians it is even more severe, because the ban comes into force at the moment of retirement, that is, at 67 years of age. In any case it’s a stupid law
Latest news from ANSA:
Meyer will quit on August 1st 2025, Chailly mid of 2026 and Ortombrina’s choice of Gatti is about to be confirmed