Stéphane Lissner (born 23 January 1953) is a French theatre director. He was the artistic director of theTeatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy, from 2005 to 2014 and the director of theParis Opera from 2014 to 2020.
Born in the12th arrondissement of Paris, son of a company manager, Lissner is a student at theCollège Stanislas and thelycée Henri-IV.[1] Just graduating from college, he created the "Théâtre mécanique" in 1972 in a small venue in the7th arrondissement of Paris. He directed it until 1975.He began his career in the public theatre industry as Secretary General of theThéâtre de la Commune [fr] ofAubervilliers in 1977, then codirected theNouveau théâtre de Nice [fr] from 1978 to 1983.[1]
He then directed the "Printemps du théâtre" between 1984 and 1987, taught the management of cultural institutions at theUniversité Paris-Dauphine in 1984, and was appointed Director General of theThéâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 1988, while he has been a member of the Board of Directors since 1983. He remained so until 1997 while assuming the general management of theOrchestre de Paris from 1994 to 1996.[1]
The direction of theAix-en-Provence Festival was entrusted to him in 1998. He also headed theThéâtre des Bouffes du Nord withPeter Brook from 1998 to June 2005, and has been directing with Frédéric Franck theThéâtre de la Madeleine since 2002.[2]
As he was to retain the management of the Aix Festival until 2009, he had to leave it in 2006 to fully assume the positions of Superintendent and Artistic Director of theTeatro alla Scala in Milan, to which he was appointed in April 2005 and reappointed in November 2009.[2]
In October 2012, he was appointed Deputy Director of theParis Opera and was appointed to succeed the then DirectorNicolas Joel at the end of his term in summer 2015.[3] Finally, Nicolas Joël advanced the end of his term of office to August 1, 2014 and, on July 9, 2014, Lissner was officially appointed Director of the Paris Opera.[4]
With effect from 1 June 2023, the date of entry into force of the decree, the Superintendent Stéphane Lissner has ceased to hold office at theTeatro di San Carlo of Naples following the urgent legislative interventions, adopted at the meeting of theCouncil of Ministers of the Italian Republic dated 4 May 2023 concerning the reform of governance including lyric-symphonic foundations which provides for the prohibition of receiving assignments, positions and collaborations for those who have completed the 70th year of age.
In February 2015, during an interview in the program "Qui êtes-vous ?" onBFM Business, Lissner was subjected by the journalist to an audio quiz on opera but only recognized one extract from the five classics chosen (La Wally,La forza del destino,Carmen,Tosca andMadama Butterfly, attracting the mockery of many Internet users relayed by the press.[5][6][7]
In May 2018, Lissner supports his Director of Dance,Aurélie Dupont[8] following the disclosure by the press of an internal investigation pointing out the mistrust of a majority of dancers towards their management.[9]
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| Preceded by | director of theThéâtre du Châtelet 1998-2006 | Succeeded by Jean-Pierre Brossmann |
| Preceded by | director of theAix-en-Provence Festival 1998-2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | director of theParis Opera 2014-2020 | Succeeded by Alexander Neef |
