Italy’s far-right-led government is seeking to restore landmark cultural institutions to Italians.
ADVERTISEMENTSince Giorgia Meloni came into power, her government has been working to wrestle back control of Italy’s cultural institutions from foreign directors.
Museums and galleries have already been targeted, with German-born Eike Schmidt leaving the Uffizi in Florence and British Canadian director James Bradburne stepping down from the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.
Now, non-Italian opera and theatre directors are being ousted and an age limit of 70 has been imposed.
The Italianisation of Italy’s opera houses
Earlier this year, the general manager of Milan’s famed Teatro alla Scala bade a bittersweet farewell to the theatre during the presentation of the 2024-25 season, saying, “I would have been happy to continue.”
Italy’s far-right-led government limited Dominique Meyer to one term as it seeks to restore landmark cultural institutions to Italians. Meyer, a Frenchman, was the third straight foreigner to run Italy’s premiere opera house.
The theatre’s new general manager is Fortunato Ortombina, who arrives from Venice’s La Fenice theatre and will work alongside Meyer for the first months.
Meyer’s last gala premiere will be Verdi’s “The Force of Destiny,’’ starring Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann on 7 December.
The new season also features a world premiere of “In the Name of the Rose,’’ a new opera by Francesco Filidei based on Umberto Eco’s novel commissioned by La Scala and the Paris Opera. It will be performed in Italian in Milan and Genoa, and in French in Paris.
“The period necessary to bring to life a new opera is longer than the mandate of a theatre director,’’ Meyer told a news conference, adding pointedly, “A little stability doesn’t hurt.”
Meyer has been invited to stay on until August 2025, when he turns 70, in keeping with a new rule set by Meloni’s government.
Foreign opera director goes to court to keep position
Last year, the French director of the Naples Opera Teatro di San Carlo, Stéphane Lissner was also told his time was up.
In January 2023, he turned 70 and subsequently should have left his post in June. However, a Naples court ruled against the order and Lissner was reinstated as director.
Critics of Meloni’s age limit have dubbed it the ‘Fuortes decree’, alleging that its underlying purpose was to oust the head of national broadcaster RAI Carlo Fuortes, who announced his resignation last May.
In a letter to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the former head of RAI said he refused to accept changes to the editorial line and programming that the Meloni’s government is trying to impose, changes he did not "consider to be in the interest of the RAI."
