The Paris Opera on its knees

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With 45 million euros in debt, the Paris Opera is on its knees, said its director Stéphane Lissner, who leaves the reins of the prestigious lyric and ballet halls 6 months before the end of his mandate. He leaves his hands free to his successor, the German Alexander Neef, 46, to manage an unprecedented crisis situation.

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The Paris Opera just had time to celebrate its 350th anniversary in 2019 before suffering a series of hard knocks. A historic strike against the pension reform in December and January, then the closure linked to the epidemic of Coronavirus as for all theaters from mid-March, followed by work already planned in the two theaters.

Since December 5, nearly a hundred operas and ballets have been canceled. Cancellation of Wagner's Tetralogy next season and the performance of the performer Marina Abramovic, the 7 dead of Maria Callas.

New stimulus plan

The 2020-2021 season promises to be very poor. The Bastille Opera will be closed until November 15 and the Palais Garnier until December 31, while Christmas ballets are the meeting awaited by the public every year in this legendary hall.

The successor of Stéphane Lissner, the current director, who will end his mandate in December, is therefore a delicate mission. The German Alexander Neef will have to find a balance between the objectives of influence and excellence of the prestigious institution, while revisiting the economic model. Or a new recovery plan for the most subsidized scene in France with 95 million euros per year, or 40% of its budget.

► Also read: "Violetta", "La Traviata" between hospital and opera

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