While the Council of State is due to vote Wednesday on the appeal filed by cultural professionals, the director of the Philharmonie de Paris, Laurent Bayle, proclaims on Europe 1 the need for visibility.

To put an end to the "endless stop and go", it would be better, according to him, to wait until "January 20, or even the end of January". 

INTERVIEW

The Council of State must render its decision on Wednesday concerning the appeal filed by cultural places, closed because of the coronavirus, in order to reopen.

A possible recovery that the president of the Philharmonie de Paris, Laurent Bayle, considers a little premature.

He explains on Europe 1 that "the worst is an endless stop and go. Reopening on December 15, if it was to close on January 2" was perhaps not "a good solution". 

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The "right solution", he believes, "consists in having the patience to wait until January 20 or the end of January, to have an assurance of reopening for a longer period, or even completely".

And for good reason, the contradictory instructions begin to weigh on him.

Whenever there is a hope of reopening, you have to reorganize, re-prepare everything to finally ... keep your doors closed.

For the Philharmonie de Paris, which currently offers concerts on a free online platform, "if it were necessary to open, we would do so immediately and we would cease audiovisual recordings", he explains.

But a little anticipation would not be a denial.

"Offer a total return to life"

Despite the coronavirus epidemic, Laurent Bayle remains optimistic.

He wants to be reassuring by explaining that the Philharmonie de Paris will indeed have "a full 2021-2022 season which will be on sale from March".

The idea is to "secure as much as possible the first part of the year 2021" through refunds or exchanges but also "to offer a total return to life from September 2021", he breathes . 

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The public is not there for the moment.

Since October, sales have stopped growing.

"But the question today is not the question of the public which is almost, unfortunately, on hold," laments Laurent Bayle.

The absolute priority remains "to see things more clearly".

A long reopening and not too early would therefore allow, according to him, the public to "regain confidence".