The Court of Auditors on display in the Salle Favart.
In a report consulted by
La Lettre A,
which should soon be made public, the magistrates looked at the economic management of the Opéra-Comique between 2005 and 2018. According to them, the lyric hall, directed since 2015 by Olivier Mantei, suffers from multiple financial drifts, from staff costs up 50% at constant headcount to a problem of public loyalty, which the work undertaken in recent years has not facilitated.
The Court of Auditors was also interested in the “
very generous
” distribution of invitations.
The report thus underlines that in 2018, for example, 5,351 seats were offered by the management, or the equivalent of 7.8% of the seats available for all performances.
These places being essentially located in the best categories, therefore the most expensive, they represent, according to the magistrates, a shortfall of 28% on the receipts of the spectacles.
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The Opéra-Comique swears that this “overdistribution” was temporary and explains the need to communicate after the reopening of the theater, closed in 2015 for major works.
"
In 2017, after two years of closure, it was necessary to restore visibility to the Opéra-Comique, in Paris, in France and even beyond the borders
", explains Salle Favart.
Places offered devoted to "
the press, potential French and foreign co-producers and patrons
", specifies a representative.
“
We wanted to win back an audience as well as new partners, and ensure the restart and rapid development of the establishment's own resources.
"
"The
best seats at the best performances
"
The rapporteurs are however astonished to see, on several occasions, the “
best places of the most requested performances
” offered to “
former, even very former Ministers of Culture
” as well as to “
former members of cabinet. , and executives from the private sector who are not patrons
”.
But for the Opéra-Comique, donating these seats is necessary.
“
There are people who cannot be refused.
And it is obvious that when you invite someone to create a buzz, like a journalist, you owe it to yourself to place them well
, ”believes the management of the establishment.
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The theater, directed successively by Jérôme Savary (2005-2007), by Jérôme Deschamps (2007-2015) then by Olivier Mantei, unsuccessful candidate for the head of the Paris Opera, believes today to follow a financial management "
controlled and thrifty
”.
"
We are at 5% of places offered, in the average of other national theaters, and we are under the control of the board of directors and the supervisors
", explains Boieldieu place.
Despite the venue being closed a year ago due to the pandemic, the Opéra-Comique has stood out in recent months by offering an original offer on social networks and the Internet.
Olivier Mantei thus claims more than 100,000 viewers for the live capture, offered on VOD, of
Hippolyte and Aricie
, of Rameau, this fall.
And 90,000 new viewers by
Titon et l'Aurore,
from Mondoville, broadcast for 10 days.