Milan’s Teatro alla Scala has appointed Dominique Meyer as its new general manager. Meyer, the current general manager of Vienna State Opera, will begin to take over from Alexander Pereira in 2021, according to The New York Times. Pereira will remain with the company through the 2020–2021 season and is attached to certain productions in the following.

Meyer, noted for his charge to boost revenue at Vienna State Opera, has led the Austria house since 2010. Its recent season played to above 99 percent capacity. The company announced in 2016 that Bogdan Roscic, president of Sony Music Classical, would replace him beginning in 2020.

Though Pereira has proven himself an effective fundraiser—particularly in increasing private donorship—his time at La Scala had been tenuous before he officially began. In 2014 the company’s board intended for his then-upcoming first season to also be his last, citing repeated conflicts of interest with the Salzburg Festival, his former employment.

Earlier this year, Pereira’s decision to accept funding from Saudi Arabia in exchange for a seat on the board for the country’s culture minister was met with derision, with critics pointing to the country’s human rights violations.

Still, some artists have voiced solidarity with the director, including mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli, who withdrew from an upcoming production of Giulia Cesare over Pereira’s forced resignation.