Dominique Meyer: ‘I'll soon be announcing where I'm going. I would be delighted to help another institution [other than La Scala]’.

On the occasion of the official presentation of the 2024/2025 season at La Scala in Milan, its director (superintendent) Dominique Meyer, 68, who had unsuccessfully applied for a renewal of his mandate, assured that he will leave his post in all ‘serenity’ and without ‘bitterness’. ‘A minister has decided to retire me from La Scala, but life goes on’, Dominique Meyer told the press on the sidelines of the official presentation of the Teatro alla Scala's new 2024/2025 season. The Milanese institution's superintendent was referring to Italy's Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, who had set the age limit for directors of opera houses at 70, thereby effectively preventing the reappointment of the current superintendent, who will reach that age in August 2025.

Following close negotiations between Rome and the opera's directors, La Scala's board of directors appointed the current director of Venice's Fenice, Fortunato Ortombina, 64, as his successor. For a year, however, the two men will be working side by side. The new superintendent will take up his post in September 2024, and Dominique Meyer will be able to stay on until August 2025. ‘There won't be any problems; he's been a friend for 30 years and I'm very happy that it's him,’ said Meyer.

Manuel Legris will leave his post as La Scala's Director of Dance in November 2025. As for the extension until August 2025 of his mandate, which normally expires in February, Dominique Meyer indicated that he had not yet made his decision. ‘I'll announce soon where I'm going. I'll be happy to help another institution’, he said, declaring himself “very happy” with his achievements as head of the Milanese theatre: ‘I've spent four wonderful years in Milan, with some great shows, a full house, finances more than in order, and a good general atmosphere. I feel I've done my duty, and I'll be leaving a modernised Scala behind me’.

La Scala will open its next season on 7 December with Giuseppe Verdi's La forza del destino, starring the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, a regular at La Scala's ‘Prima’. Another outstanding choice was the return, after a 48-year absence, of Vincenzo Bellini's Norma, masterfully performed by Maria Callas in Milan in the 1950s.

Dominique Meyer is leaving the Teatro alla Scala financially fit in his final season with the company. During the presentation of the 2024-25 season, the superintendent revealed that “he had increased the contributions of sponsors to 38 million euros (around 32.45 million pounds) last year, above pre-pandemic levels.” He also noted that “he had pushed up the daily box office take by 22 percent to 236,000 euros (201,541 pounds), largely by eliminating last-minute discounted tickets that he said ‘poisoned’ the market.” He also noted that he was leaving the famed Milanese theater with 132.7 million euros (around 113.3 million pounds) in cash, compared with 109 million euros (around 93.1 million pounds) in 2018.

The Teatro alla Scala’s 2024-25 season will open on Dec. 7 with La Forza del Destino starring Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, and Ludovic Tézier.