Eva Kleinitz had taken up her duties in 2017 in Strasbourg and had been able to inspire a new wind to one of the oldest opera houses in France, fully convinced of the fundamental role of culture in the balance of society. She had thus conceived a project in which the artistic requirement was linked to a broad cultural component aimed at making accessible to all the singular art that is opera, a meeting place of heritage and creation where music, dance, dramaturgy and direction mingle.
At 47 years old, her rich career had guided her among the greatest European houses, from the Royal Mint Theatre in Brussels to the Stuttgart Opera House, the Bregenz Festival in Austria, and then the National Rhine Opera, for only two years. A professional recognized by her peers, she chaired the Opéra Europa network and was an ardent advocate of European cooperation between opera houses. In Strasbourg, she embodied wonderfully the Franco-German ties and, more generally, the idea of culture on a European scale.
His engaging and luminous personality had enabled him to develop new collaborations that went beyond traditional aesthetic divisions and contributed to a greater democratization of culture.
Franck Riester, Minister of Culture, shares in the grief of all those who knew her and sends his sincere condolences to her family and loved ones.