Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, Minister of Culture, is pleased to welcome Alexander Neef as Director of the Opéra national de Paris and to announce the launch of two missions on the prospects of the Opéra national de Paris and the policy of accompaniment of opera in France.

Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin wished to organize, at the Ministry of Culture, this Tuesday 1er September, the ceremony of passing of relay to the head of the Opéra national de Paris between Stéphane Lissner and Alexander Neef.

Stéphane Lissner, who has directed the Opéra national de Paris for 6 years, offering a rich and daring programme while at the same time diversifying the resources of the establishment, is now the director of the Théâtre lyrique San Carlo de Naples, where he works for one of the most prestigious and ancient opera houses in Europe.

Alexander Neef, who had been appointed in July 2019 as Prefigurer Director of the Paris Opera, becomes from 1er its Director General. In parallel with his new leadership assignments, he retained his responsibilities with the Canadian Opera Company until his successor took office.

Alexander Neef proposes for the Paris Opera an ambitious lyrical and choreographic project, which gives an important place to the French repertoire and combines the maintenance of an artistic level of excellence with the challenges of democratization, research on new audiences and the development of arts education.

At the ceremony, Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin also announced the launch of two missions:

  1. A mission on the perspectives and modalities of accompaniment and support of the Opéra national de Paris

In order to inform the decisions that will have to be taken for the future, a mission is entrusted to Georges François Hirsch, former administrator of the Paris Opera and Christophe Tardieu, former deputy director of the establishment. In the context of the health crisis, it will be up to them to take stock of the situation and to establish medium and long-term prospects for the Opera.

The conclusions of this mission are expected by the end of November 2020.

  1. A reflection on the politics of lyrical art in France.

A second mission will be entrusted to Caroline Sonrier, director of the Lille Opera, with the objective of drawing up an inventory of opera art in France, by examining the existing artistic offer, the various economic models, and the democratization policies pursued by the opera houses in the territories.

It will draw up a reference framework for the practice of lyric art in France, with proposals aimed at ensuring the sustainability of this sector. The mission will pay particular attention to the territorial registration of operas, in conjunction with partner communities, support for young composers and performers, as well as the collaborations that opera houses can maintain with each other.