Gerard Mortier appointed successors

The royal theater of the Royal Theater Madrid Gerard Mortier announced that he was seriously ill and called the names of six candidates for his position, which one of them would take in case of his death.

As the English critic and musicologist Norman Lebrecht said in his blog, now the 69-year-old director is in one of the German oncological clinics. The course of treatment is designed for three months.

Lebrecht gives a list of successors compiled by Gerard Mortier:

• Victor Shener (Bavarian State Opera, Munich);
• Alexander Neevf (Canadian opera, Toronto);
• Serge Dorni (new opera, Lyon);
• John Berry (English National Opera, London);
• Pierre Audi (Dutch opera, Amsterdam);
• Bernd Lebe (Frankfurt opera, Frankfurt).

In addition, there is a list of candidates for the post of director of the Royal Theater, proposed by the Government of Spain:

• Antonio Morality (predecessor Morma at the Royal Theater);
• Pedro Halfter (Theater de Maeestra, Seville);
• Joan Matabosh (Liseu Theater, Barcelona).

Mordier categorically disagree with this proposal. In an interview published by the El País newspaper, on September 3, he said: “If the government imposes a successor to me, I will leave without waiting for 2016 [when the term of his contract with the Royal Theater expires].”