La Scala in Milan to showdown on the question of the entry of the Saudi Arabian government into the capital of the Milanese opera house. In anticipation of the decisive board meeting on Monday 18 March, with a part of the board that has already hinted that it will vote in favor (even if the question of the entry of the Saudis into top management and their appointment as founding member remains open), it seems that the fact has actually already been accomplished. And for a long time. Indeed, the Arabs have the first tranche of the 15 million provided for in the agreement has already been paid into the coffers of the Teatro alla Scala, which according to the statute of the Foundation could even open the way for the Saudis to a place among the founding members of the greatest Italian opera house, with all the political controversies of the case, given that Riyadh has long been in the eye of the storm of public opinion international for the Kashoggi case and human rights violations.
This is a tranche of 3,1 million, which was deposited in a transitional account by a notary, following an agreement with representatives of the Saudi Ministry of Culture that Superintendent Alexander Pereira signed as early as January. This circumstance risks further exacerbating the clash, given that some members of the board of directors had warned the superintendent about concluding the deal and that the mayor Beppe Sala himself had asked for a truce precisely in view of the board meeting. The agreement, on the merits, provides for two concerts by the Verona orchestra in Riyadh, in the auditorium owned by the Saudi Aramco oil company (where La Traviata will be performed in concert form directed by Zubin Mehta in 2020) and the creation of an academy to train musicians, young choristers, dancers and singers. In exchange, a donation of three million euros is foreseen every year for five years, plus another hundred thousand euros per year for the same period.
A similar donation, in addition to the ethical and political issue, also opens up a question of governance, given that the statute of the Foundation allows the appointment as founding member of the theatre, provided, however, that the candidacy is presented by an existing shareholder and that it is approved by the assembly. More opposed to this hypothesis is the Lombardy Region, represented on the board of directors by Philippe Daverio and in favor of a cultural collaboration, but not the entry of the Saudis among the members of La Scala. Francesco Micheli, who is one of the two government representatives, and Alberto Meomartini would also share the same opinion, while Mayor Sala, who leads the Foundation, was more ecumenical and declared that there will be a yes to the agreement only if it passes to the unanimity. Moreover, this thorny affair overlaps with the appointment of Pereira's successor, whose contract expires in 2020.
Among the names in the running are those of: Carlo Fuortes, current superintendent of the Rome Opera; Dominique Meyer of the Vienna State Opera; Serge Dorny of the Lyon Opera; Filippo Fonsatti, current director of the Teatro Stabile in Turin; Peter Gelb who has been superintendent of the Metropolitan in New York since 2006; And Fortunato Ortombina, at the helm of La Fenice in Venice. Just Ortombina, in one recent interview released to FIRST Arte, did not want to comment on the rumors about his possible appointment, but however declared himself not against the entry of Saudi capital: "Fifteen million is a lot, but there are also other investors, it would not be a majority stake anyway . And in any case, I believe in the sovereignty of Italian music: we mustn't be afraid of anyone, not even the Arabs. If anything, the problem is political, but it doesn't concern La Scala's Italian character”.
