A shortened mandate. Stéphane Lissner, Director General of the Paris Opera since 2014, will end his functions on December 31, 2020, six months before the expiration of his mandate. He made this decision in order to leave his hands free to his successor Alexander Neef who will have to manage a drastic recovery plan in order to raise the great house of lyric art.
The government has refused to extend his mandate. "I was very much criticized for the form of support that I expressed vis-à-vis the strikers of the Paris Opera in December 2019," said Stéphane Lissner, interviewed by our colleagues from the World .
The strikes against the pension reform from December 5 to March 3, 2020 resulted in the cancellation of many performances, representing more than 14.5 million euros in losses. The closure of the Palais Garnier and the Opera Bastille due to the Covid-19 pandemic is equivalent to a shortfall of 31 million euros, according to figures from Le Monde .
"Organizations directed against any form of governance"
"At the end of 2020, it is likely that the Paris Opera will no longer have working capital," he explains. "We are posting 40 million euros in debt and the Paris Opera is on its knees," he continues.
And to analyze: “There are responsible unions at the Paris Opera who work in a constructive confrontation. And there are organizations directed against any form of governance, which, believing to defend the employee, jeopardize the work tool. "
While Stéphane Lissner will take over the direction of the San Carlo Theater in Naples, the director forerunner, Alexander Neef, assisted by Martin Ajdari, deputy director general of the Opera, have the mission from 1 July to "draw up a report on the situation of the establishment at the end of a year of unprecedented crisis ”, according to a press release from the Ministry of Culture.
They will also have "to propose from autumn 2020 guidelines to maintain the excellence and influence of the Paris National Opera while revisiting its economic, social and organizational model in order to ensure the conditions for balanced operation".
The opera and choreographic programming of the Opéra national de Paris will resume from the end of November 2020 in Bastille and January 2021 in Garnier, after scenic work initially scheduled in 2021 and advanced given the uncertainties linked to the health crisis current. A new stage and a new team to take on the great house of lyric art.
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