Gustavo Dudamel, the superstar maestro, will step down as music director of the Paris Opera in August, four years ahead of schedule and after just two seasons in office, the company announced on Thursday.
Dudamel, 42, who also conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic and will become music and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic in 2026, said he was stepping down to spend more time with his family.
“It is with a heavy heart and after much deliberation that I announce my retirement,” he said in a statement. “I have no plans other than to be with my loved ones, whom I am deeply grateful for helping me continue to remain strong in my determination to grow and to remain personally and artistically challenged every day.”
Dudamel’s two-year tenure will be one of the shortest in the recent history of the Paris Opera. His sudden departure is unusual in the classical music industry, where conductors typically serve the length of their contracts and seasons are typically planned years in advance. His resignation comes months after he surprisingly announced that he would be leaving the Los Angeles post he has held since 2009 for New York when his contract expires at the end of the 2025/26 season.
Alexander Neef, the general director of the Paris Opera, praised Dudamel’s “special relationship” with the orchestra and said he respected his choice. In an interview, he said that since January, Dudamel has expressed concerns about his ability to carry out his duties, including the time he needs for the intense performance and rehearsal schedule the opera requires.
“In the end, he came to the conclusion that he just couldn’t give the institution what he felt it needed,” Neef said.
In recent months, Neef said he had suggested ways to keep Dudamel in Paris.
“I wasn’t trying to twist his arm,” Neef said. “We played with different scenarios and schedule arrangements. But in the end he just felt that winning the title wasn’t enough.”
Dudamel’s representatives said Thursday that he was unavailable for an interview.
The opera house and Dudamel are still debating what to do with his planned engagements for the 2023/24 season. He was to conduct a new production of Wagner’s Lohengrin and the Paris premiere of Thomas Adès’ Der Vernichtende Engel, as well as conduct several concerts with the orchestra.
Dudamel’s departure raises the possibility that he could deepen his involvement with the New York Philharmonic sooner than expected. Due to scheduling conflicts, he had not planned to have a New York presence until the 2026–27 season. Dudamel, who conducted the orchestra in Mahler’s Ninth Symphony last week, has no commitments in New York next season.
Deborah Borda, the Philharmonic’s president and executive director, who helped Dudamel’s career in Los Angeles nearly two decades ago and persuaded him to take the job in New York, said she hopes he can now spend more time with the orchestra that next season starts but that nothing was discussed.
“He makes it clear that he doesn’t want to make that decision now,” she said in an interview.
When Dudamel accepted the job in New York, some in the industry speculated that he wanted to shorten his commute to Paris. But Borda said that during the pandemic, Dudamel, who was born in Venezuela, realized he wanted to spend more time in Spain, where his wife, 12-year-old son, parents and grandmother now live.
“No doubt he will take some criticism,” she said of his decision to step down. “But I think it’s a bold and important step.”
In Paris, Dudamel directed top-class productions of contemporary operas such as John Adams’ “Nixon in China” and classics such as Puccini’s “Turandot”. He seemed to be highly regarded by the orchestra’s musicians and by Neef, although he sometimes received mixed reviews from European critics. A staging of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, which he conducted earlier this year, made headlines when the soprano was booed.
The opera house also appears to be struggling with financial pressures. Planned performances by the Paris Opera Orchestra in London and Vienna in April were abruptly cancelled. The Barbican Center in London said this was “due to factors that currently make touring a financial challenge” for the ensemble.
His appointment in 2021 for an initial six seasons was seen as a coup for the company, which was founded by Louis XIV in 1669 as the Académie d’Opéra. It was an unlikely marriage given Dudamel’s busy schedule and frequent commitments in Los Angeles. And although he had achieved fame and accolades as a symphonic conductor, he had less experience in opera.
Dudamel said at the time that he felt a chemistry with the Paris Opera after his company debut in 2017 with La Bohème.
“I felt this connection to the house, to the musicians, to the choir and to the entire team,” he said in a 2021 interview with the New York Times. “I stayed here for a month and a half and felt like I was at home.”
The departure of Dudamel puts the Paris Opera in a difficult position. Neef said the orchestra will depend on guest conductors to fill gaps in the coming seasons and that the company will soon start looking for a permanent leader “with the goal of finding the best person and not the most lightest available”.
“We are strong enough to get through this time while we search for someone new,” he said.
The company informed its 175 musicians of Dudamel’s decision on Thursday. Neef said some have noticed a change in their relationship with Dudamel over the past few months and are relieved that there is now a resolution.
“They expected something to happen,” he said. “There’s disappointment and sadness, but there’s also a moment of relief to know what’s going on.”