The ignorance of S. Lissner - Director at La Scala and the Paris Opera

These posts do no good to anyone, neither to opera nor to the people of opera

You're right, Lissner is better

a stringent logic, I would say. I am dazzled by such wisdom.

I will tell you a series of things:

1) "how foreign-loving we are!": the vast majority of budget deficits in cultural institutions (not just opera houses) have been caused by Italians. This statement of yours demonstrates provincialism and xenophobia. You have qualified YOURSELF by writing it, not the world of culture. Yes, Lissner is better than your post.

2) "culture managed by bankers": Lissner is an expert in theater, so I don't understand the connection, but you know, perhaps your innovative prose is a little too much for my cognitive abilities. That said, maybe you are convinced that theaters are managed by bankers, that artistic choices are made by bankers, that work shifts or chorus rehearsals, artists' fees, seasonal programming, and promotional activities are managed by bankers. And you are perfectly free to believe it. It would be nice, however, if a post on a forum went further, perhaps by providing data, links, or reasoned opinions. There, one could talk, truly talk about the issue, rather than shouting at the sky with a clenched fist.

3) "any shark": I find this offensive. Not for me, but for those who manage, in various capacities (yes, because this should also be discussed, because if I find dog poop in the garden I cannot say "thieving government", I should strive to understand the INDIVIDUAL responsibilities of INDIVIDUAL acts) the heritage you speak of. There have been and are bad and excellent administrators, bad and excellent politicians, bad and excellent artists. But if online we have the courage to call anyone a shark, then we should have the shame to provide proof or arguments. Actually no, I am little interested in arguments; I still prefer proof and reports. If someone tells me I am a thief, they have the moral and civil obligation to go to the law enforcement to report me, even before writing a post about me on a forum. Moral and civil obligation, which means that if they don't do it, they are a coward and a hypocrite. If they limit themselves to doing it online, they are a defamer, because regardless of the evidence they may have in their drawer—therefore even regardless of the REALITY of the facts—if they defame a citizen's respectability through the press, then they are liable to imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 1032 euros. Lissner, as far as I know, has never said that Luciano P is a shark, a thief, a murderer, a child rapist, or anything else. So yes, LISSNER IS MUCH BETTER than this post.

4) what have you done for our precious heritage? Publishing this link—what has it done for the theaters, for music, for the common good, for the users of this forum, for me? It has only increased widespread stress. Lissner managed La Scala theater for 9 years, bringing the budget to a balance every single year (despite headlines about "default risk" appearing every other day), infuriating Milanese because there was a little more ballet, a little more international opera, a little more modern directing, and a little less Verdi. But even if he had behaved "badly," the judgment would only be artistic, not of any other kind. There are no demons, there are no deities, there are no superintendents and artistic directors capable of reviving an operatic landscape, nor are there superintendents and artistic directors capable of sinking an operatic landscape; the matter is too complicated, it has to do with politics, with culture, with dozens and dozens of people who in different places and locations influence the present and the future. Is it Lissner's fault if the new rich don't go to the opera? No. Is it Lissner's fault if subscribers are dying out, complaining, and ignorant? No. Is it Lissner's fault if throughout the world the culture market is an increasingly less public and more private market, with a series of heavy consequences on the production system? No. Is it Lissner's fault if the Italian public prefers a mediocre Donizetti to a beautiful Berlioz? No. Now, thinking that a stupid test on a television program can qualify Lissner's work makes me laugh. Reading acrimonious accusations against someone who has worked a lifetime and continues to work FOR opera does not make me laugh; it makes me p***ed off.

There are things written here that I cannot stop to give a "like" but I must go further.

Thank you for what you wrote Claudio, reading you does me good because you make me think ... that I can still believe and hope.