Stphane Lissner from France has taken up his new post at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, not just as superintendent as had originally been announced, but also as artistic director. The reason for the dual post is that Lissner has found the situation at the world-famous opera house so chaotic that he wants to make decisions as quickly as possible.

Lissner has explained that he has found the theatre has no programme for the season that starts in December, no guest conductors have been invited, no plans have been made for the 250th anniversary of Mozarts birth which falls next year, and the finances of the theatre are in serious deficit. In a world where programmes are made long in advance and soloists are booked for years ahead, Lissner is facing a difficult task, but he has expressed faith in the people who work at the theatre in Milan and says that he hopes that the many famous musicians, with whom he works as director of the Aix-en-Provence Festival, will come to his assistance. Lissner let it be known that the doors at the Teatro alla Scala will always be open to Riccardo Muti, who resigned as musical director of the theatre a little more than a month ago.