Around the Music Festival

Sixth Criminal Chamber of the Court of Rome sentenced Carlo Fuortes, then president of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, to 16 months in prison for violating occupational safety regulations over the July 2017 accident in which a theater employee fell to his death during cleaning work. The court sentenced Carlo Fuortes to 16 months in prison for violating occupational safety regulations. The court also ordered Fuortes to pay 220,000 euros to the victim’s family.

To summarize local reports, the accident occurred on July 31, 2017, when a 50-year-old man fell from a ladder and hit his head hard during a temporary cleaning of the pit and died in the hospital after nine days in a coma. Prosecutors had sought two years in prison for Fuortes, the building superintendent at the time, and the owner of the company where the man worked.

Fortes, 64, was born in Rome and served as president of the Opera di Roma from 2013 to 2021 before becoming chief executive officer of the Italian Broadcasting Corporation (RAI) in 2021. However, he resigned in May 2023 after a conflict with the current Meroni administration. He was announced as president of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples from that September.

However, Stefan Lissner, who had been president of the Teatro San Carlo since 2021 and had a term of office remaining, filed a lawsuit against the decision, claiming that it was illegal for the Meloni administration to suddenly set a retirement age of 70 for the presidency and abruptly remove a person who was in the middle of his contract. The Naples court ruled in favor of Lissner’s reinstatement. The Fortes story died out before long.

Shortly thereafter, Fortes was appointed to succeed Alexander Pereira as president of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and he had just started work last week. Fortes’ lawyer has stated that he will appeal and that he has no fear of being imprisoned at this time.

Photo：Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino