Bernard Labadie Quits Opéra de Montréal Post Over Cutbacks

By Ben Mattison
June 7, 2006

Bernard Labadie, the artistic director of the Opéra de Montréal since 2003, will step down at the end of August, the company announced.

In a statement, the company said that "the current financial constraints of the Opéra de Montréal and more specifically their impact on the artistic project that attracted him to the Opéra de Montréal were important factors leading to his decision."

Opéra de Montréal canceled a planned production of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex and Symphony of Psalms this season because of a projected deficit of more than C$1.2 million. The 2006-07 season includes just four productions, instead of the usual five or six, because of the financial constraints facing the company. At a press conference announcing the season in March, Labadie said that under the company's current financial structure, "we have to sell way too many tickets to make it work."

According to the company, Labadie also wished to concentrate on his conducting career, which has included appearances at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Glimmerglass Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and other modern and period ensembles.

Labadie is still scheduled to conduct Opéra de Montréal's production of Don Giovanni next spring, and he will retain a link with the company, "supporting the artistic development of the Opéra de Montréal under specific"—but unspecified—"mandates that could be accorded to him."

A native of Quebec City, Labadie founded the modern-instrument, period-performance ensemble Les Violons du Roy and the choir La Chapelle de Québec in the 1980s, and he continues to lead both groups. From 1994 until he joined Opéra de Montréal in 2003, he was artistic director of L’Opéra de Québec.