Dissonances at the Bavarian State Opera: The provisional choir director Stellario Fagone has not worked at the house since March 7th. Spokesman Michael Wuerges confirms the termination of the Italian without notice, but does not want to comment on the reasons. There have been rumors for some time that Fagone’s directorship wanted to part ways. Most recently, it was said that he would no longer conduct the choir in any new productions, but would only be used for repertoire performances.
Stellario Fagone himself, after consulting his lawyer, does not want to comment on the circumstances surrounding his dismissal. It is known that the Bavarian State Opera and he had previously faced each other in labor law proceedings. The Bavarian Ministry of Art and Science does not comment on the process. A spokeswoman for Markus Blume’s office only said that “this is a personnel decision that lies with the State Opera”.
The Munich opera audience has known the native of Turin for a long time. From 2003 to 2006 he was engaged as a répétiteur at the Bavarian State Opera, from 2006 to 2018 as deputy choir director and also as director of the children’s choir. After the departure of Sören Eckhoff, Fagone was appointed acting choir director at the beginning of the 2019/20 season by the then artistic director Nikolaus Bachler in order to “maintain and further develop the vocal and artistic level of the choir”, according to the State Opera’s website.
Under the new director Serge Dorny and the new General Music Director Vladimir Yurovski the decision was obviously made to fill the choir direction. Whether for artistic dissatisfaction or other reasons, the State Opera is silent about it. The fact that the separation did not go smoothly and that things have come to a head in the past few weeks is no longer a secret in the Munich opera scene.
Search for new leader “in full swing”
The search for a new manager is “in full swing”, according to Michael Wuerges. Whether the Frankfurt choir director Tilman Michael, who made his debut at the Bavarian State Opera in December with the rehearsal of the choirs in the new production of Wagner’s “Lohengrin”, is a candidate, Wuerges does not want to confirm any more than David Cavelius’ possible application with his choir conducting recently at “War and Peace”. If you look at the program booklet for the coming season, you will still see Stellario Fagone’s name in the repertoire performances. However, the choirmaster has not yet been named for premieres such as “Pique Dame”, “Le nozze di Figaro” or “Die Fledermaus”.
According to Michael Wuerges, provisional choir direction will be taken over by Johannes Knecht by the end of the season. In this function he is responsible for the new production of “Aida”, for the repertoire until the end of the season and for the rehearsal of Gustav Mahler’s 8th symphony. Christoph Heil will support him in this. Kamila Akhmedjanova will remain in her current position as an assistant and will temporarily take over the direction of the children’s choir of the Bavarian State Opera.