In Wednesday’s (12/3) New York Times, Michael Cooper writes that Gianandrea Noseda, music director of Italy’s Teatro Regio in Turin, who had threatened to leave the company earlier this fall as the company “was preparing for its first North American tour … disclosed in an interview [on Tuesday] that he planned to renew his contract in Turin, the day before the company was to begin its tour with a concert version of Rossini’s ‘William Tell.’ He said that he expected to renew his contract for two years, with an option to extend it for another three…. Noseda, 50, said that concern for the state of opera in Italy helped persuade him to stay on…. The tumult in Turin began in August, when Mr. Noseda … went public with his threat not to renew his contract unless the opera house’s general manager, Walter Vergnano, was replaced…. The mayor of Turin, Piero Fassino, worked behind the scenes to broker a peace. The idea of appointing a new artistic director who could work with both men was broached [and] this fall, a new artistic director was found who was acceptable to both men: Gastón Fournier-Facio, who has held important posts at La Scala and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome.”
Posted December 3, 2014
