Culture Minister Dario Franceschini
on Friday appointed Rome Opera Superintendent Carlo Fuortes
commissioner of Verona's Arena amphitheatre.
He will be in the job free of charge for several months
while continuing to work in Rome.
Franceschini described Fuortes as a "cultural manager who
has already handled with great professionalism and effectiveness
the crisis situation of the Rome Opera".
The Arena in Verona, an ancient Roman site refurbished for
modern events, has been going through management and cash
problems for some time.
Last week it was announced that the opera company that
stages concerts and shows at Verona's ancient Roman arena is
going to be put into liquidation by the Verona Arena Foundation.
The move followed a rejection by workers of a
cost-cutting agreement signed by the foundation and trade
unions.
Workers voted against accepting the deal, with 132 votes
against and 130 in favour.
Verona Mayor Flavio Tosi said that the next opera season
was not at risk on the way out of the meeting at which the
foundation decided to put the company into liquidation.
But he added that "the reckless decision of the workers
will entail the scrapping of all the jobs".
A tender inviting Italian and foreign firms to bid to
cover Verona's famous Arena was issued in English and Italian in
February.
The removable roof will be used to make sure events do not
have to be cancelled because of rain.
The Calzedonia Group is supporting the project with 100,000
euros.
The Verona Arena (Arena di Verona) is a Roman amphitheatre
in the central Piazza Bra, built in the first century AD.
It is still in use today and is internationally famous for
the large-scale opera performances given there.
It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its
kind.
In ancient times, nearly 30,000 people was the housing
capacity of the Arena.
Nowadays, for security reasons, the maximum attendance is
of 15,000 people.
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