Bogdan Roscic, designated director of the Vienna State Opera, gives a press conference on December 21, 2016 in Vienna.
HERBERT NEUBAUER / APA / AFP
Austria’s government named Bogdan Roscic on Wednesday as director of the prestigious Vienna State Opera from 2020, replacing Frenchman Dominique Meyer.
Roscic, 52, is currently president of Sony Music’s classical music division and has never run an opera house. He was born in Serbia and grew up in Austria.
“I believe we need to look to the future, although that isn’t to criticise the status quo,” Culture Minister Thomas Drozda said as he announced the appointment.
He said he wanted to opera house “to ensure that it can attract the global stars of tomorrow… If you like, a State Opera 4.0.”
In the age of Broadway and Netflix, “the genre has lost meaning and… faces never-before-seen competition for the public’s time and money,” Drozda said.
