By way of Norman Lebrecht, Le Figaro has released the long list of 10 candidates being considered for the coveted director-general of the Opéra national de Paris.
Of that list, one, in particular, caught our eye: Canadian Opera Company’s General Director Alexander Neef.
The role is to replace outgoing Paris Opera director designate Stephane Lissner who was appointed October 2012. His contract runs out in 2021 and according to Le Monde, it will not be renewed.
While we are not sure if Neef has actually applied for the job, we know that he is currently on contract with the COC through to the 2025/2026 season. It would be highly unusual to take two concurrent directorships, so should Neef be selected and accept the position, we can only speculate that he would likely have to terminate his contract with the COC early. By 2026, Neef will be the longest-serving General Director of the COC (18 years), after Richard Bradshaw.
It should be noted that Neef took a second appointment as the first Artistic Director of Santa Fe Opera — a role which started October 1, 2018.
As reported in Le Figaro, the full list of candidates are:
- Peter de Caluwe, La Monnaie (Brussels)
- Joan Matabosch, Teatro Real (Madrid)
- Jean-Louis Grinda, Opéra de Monte-Carlo
- Christina Scheppelmann, Liceu (Barcelona)
- Alexander Neef, COC (Toronto)
- Laurent Joyeux, Dijon
- Marc Minkowski, Opéra de Bordeaux
- Olivier Mantei, Opéra Comique
- Jean-Marie Blanchard, former Director of Théâtre de Genève
- Dominique Meyer, outgoing director of Vienna Staatsoper
- Christophe Ghristi, Théâtre du Capitole à Toulouse
LUDWIG VAN TORONTO
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