Just in: Italian opera chief is sentenced to jail

Just in: Italian opera chief is sentenced to jail

Opera

norman lebrecht

March 28, 2024

Days after starting work as sovrintendente of the Maggio Musicale in Florence, Carlo Fuortes has been sentenced to 16 months in jail over the accidental death of a theatre worker at Rome Opera in July 2017. He was also ordered to pay 220,000 Euros to the victim’s family.

UPDATE: He is preparing an appeal.

Before arriving in Florence this week, Fuortes fell out with the Meloni government and was forced to resign as head of the national broadcaster, Rai.

The future of the Maggio Musicale remains parlous as ever.

Comments

  • william osborne says:

    The defense says: “A disconcerting sentence for which we will appeal. A sentence that condemns Fuortes for a death at work but not due to a risk at work. A death that occurred because the worker slipped from the first step of the ladder and had a blood alcohol level of 1.3g/l. The reason why he slipped is linked to the level of alcohol in his blood. I don’t know how the Superintendent of the Theater can be called into question in this case. Thus the lawyer Alessandro Gamberini, l Fuortes’ defense lawyer.”

    Many more details needed to understand this case.

    • waw says:

      Why on earth would you post a quote just from the defense lawyer?

      If you went to the trouble of googling the whole case, and translating it, ….

      • william osborne says:

        Just to show that the matter is still in dispute and will be appealed. I take no side in this issue.

    • V. Lind says:

      No kidding. I don’t like the sound of the Meloni government, but if this case is remotely as the defence statement says (not a given, obviously) there would seem to be considerable grounds for appeal. Also for an investigation into the reason for and nature of the prosecution in the first place.

  • Wow says:

    Absolutely stunning wife!

  • Sam's Hot Car Lot says:

    She’s not his wife. She’s Virginia Raggi, the then mayor of Rome.

  • Zandonai says:

    Sounds to me like a politically motivated witch hunt, like what’s happening in New York City. I wish Fuortes luck.

    • Mister New York says:

      What is happening in New York City is not a political witch hunt. It is about a business man con artist found guilty of fraud and income tax evasion. Anyone who was not famous would already be behind bars.

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