I have to leave because I am a stranger

Dominique Meyer, the director of La Scala, is caught in the crossfire of Italian cultural policy and has openly criticized the actions of the Meloni government. Meyer will leave La Scala in February, a departure he discussed in an interview with Gert Korentschnig for the Austrian newspaper Kurier, where he also commented on Italy's cultural policies.

Meyer's contract was initially set to be extended for another five years, but Georgia Meloni's former Secretary of State, Vittorio Sgarbi, aimed to bring Carlo Fuortes, the then-head of RAI and former opera director in Rome, to Milan. Italy's new right-wing government had previously enacted a law stating that foreigners over the age of 70 can no longer run Italian cultural institutions, a rule that now affects Meyer. It has since been confirmed that Fortunato Ortombina will be the next director of La Scala.

"I have made more efforts than any other Italian director to present the entire Italian repertoire in Milan," says Meyer. "I have worked to preserve the cultural heritage, and now I have to leave because I am a foreigner. That makes me very sad."

Ironically, Sgarbi is no longer part of the government, and Fuortes is going to Naples instead of Milan. Even Sgarbi's successor, Gennaro Sangiuliano, recently resigned due to an affair involving an influencer. "La Scala's board of directors wanted to extend my contract at least until the end of 2026, but cultural policy prevented that too. This calls into question La Scala's entire system and is also very dangerous," Meyer states.

He worries that politics is undermining public participation in the theatre. "The supervisory board of La Scala consists of 50 percent representatives from companies that pay nine million euros to have a seat at the table. They are now being ignored due to the chaos of cultural policy," he says.

Meyer also criticizes the structure of Italian cultural policy: "For fear of corruption, there are so many rules in Italy that only complicate everything," he explains. "Then there are the trade unions. They are not evil, but they interfere in everything. For example, if two acts of an opera together last longer than 90 minutes, there must be an intermission in between, the unions insist on that. That alone means everyone gets home 30 minutes later, which makes no sense and is just expensive."

Dominique Meyer is set to leave La Scala and take over the management of the Chamber Orchestra in Lausanne. The handover to his successor in Milan is already underway. "I have decided that working with Fortunato Ortombina is good," Meyer says, "so it will be good.