The Napoli Labor Court has reinstated Stéphane Lissner as the Artistic Director and Superintendent of the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli.

The court ruled that he would have to be reinstated with immediate effect after Lissner was asked to leave following the urgent legislative interventions, adopted at the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Italian dated May 4, 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.

The court’s decision read, “Today’s precautionary order from the Labor Judge Dr. Clara Ruggiero decided, in fact, that the Legislative Decree of 10 May 2023, n. 51 which had been used to anticipate the termination of the employment relationship must be interpreted in the only sense that makes it compatible with the constitutional principles and the previous regulations in which the aforementioned decree falls. This obviously also applies to that “contra personam” provision, which would have applied only to Maestro Lissner, which provided for immediate termination for superintendents over seventy years of age, regardless of the expiry date of the current contracts. All of this, as is known, to free up the post of theater superintendent for Dr. Fuortes and obtain his resignation as CEO of Rai.”

Following the ousting of Lissner, the Teatro San Carlo named Carlo Fuortes as the new Superintendent; Fuortes began his tenure on Sept. 1, 2023. The company has yet to release a statement regarding his situation.

Lisnner’s contract with the company was set to end in 2025.