2012 is a red-letter year for BNP Paribas Fortis and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie / Koninklijke Muntschouwburg. This year they are celebrating 30 years of rich, harmonious and enthusiastic collaboration.

Since 1982, BNP Paribas Fortis has been associated with the Munt / Monnaie, whose reputation has gone out far and wide beyond the borders of Belgium, in order to share our passion for musical and choreographic performance – opera, theatre, contemporary dance, concerts and recitals – with a variety of different audiences. In addition to the support which the Bank provides to the opera house, it regularly invites clients and other people of importance to enjoy some of the outstanding performances there with us.   BNP Paribas Fortis is also the sole partner of the Go!pera initiative which offers young people a 30% discount on tickets.

The idea for this cultural partnership was first aired in another great Belgian sporting ‘theatre’ – the RSC Anderlecht football stadium, during what started out as an entirely casual conversation between the boss of the former Generale Bank and the Director of the Monnaie / Munt.  One year earlier, the Bank had become the sponsor of the Mauve-and-White-shirted club, another great adventure which has also now been running for three decades.  Until the moment when Generale Bank and ASLK-CGER merged in 1999-2000 to form Fortis Bank, today known as BNP Paribas Fortis, each of the two banks sponsored one of the two 8-seat boxes at the Monnaie / Munt.  Which goes to show how deeply rooted our cultural sponsorship is in the famous opera house.

Marking this notable anniversary, BNP Paribas Fortis CEO Max Jadot underlined his great passion for opera. The photo gallery below includes a testimonial by Peter de Caluwe, Director-General and General Supervisor of the Munt / Monnaie, and details of current and upcoming performances.

What are your most vivid memories?  Max Jadot:  “Back in the 1980s, a performance of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier led me to discover the great diversity of opera.  Handel’s Orlando made a great impression on me – you could almost feel the protagonist’s mad rage.  But for me Verdi’s La Traviata is unrivalled. I’ve seen it performed several times but the first time was at the Munt / Monnaie in 1994.  That performance in Brussels was of an exceptionally high quality and I’m delighted to see that this work is on the programme again this coming December.  In fact I’ve been fortunate enough to go to the opera in such prestigious venues as the Bastille Opera in Paris, Covent Garden in London and the New York Metropolitan Opera House and I can tell you that the Monnaie has absolutely no reason to feel inferior."

How do you see the role of corporate philanthropy in art? “As an ‘engaged bank’, we should see it as part of our role in society to help provide a high quality programme for a diverse range of audiences, especially young people. In the current tight situation, it’s vital to help an institution like the Munt / Monnaie / Munt to promote its repertoire and to maintain its position among the top rank in Europe.  Rather like cinema, opera – which fuses together music and poetry in a theatrical spectacle – is an art form which enables the expression of emotions and continues to tell us something about the world in which we live.” (*)       


More on current and upcoming performances at the Monnaie / Munt: French – in Dutch    

Go!pera – A night at the Opera: Dutch – French
 

Contact at BNP Paribas Fortis: Monja Lamal, sponsoring manager
 

(*) Based on an article by Marcel Croës published in the Monnaie Munt Magazine in August 2012.