Has New York’s Metropolitan Opera, led by manager Peter Gelb since 2006 and probably at once the most beloved and most hated institution in all of classical music, been going through an astonishing rough patch? Or has its visibility simply made it a lightning rod for systemic issues facing the entire field? The last seven years of its history read like a summary of the entrenched problems facing classical music as a whole. In 2015, the New Yorker published an account of labor issues, board-member backroom dealmaking, and conflict between advocates of operatic tradition and innovation. In December 2017, the New York Post reported on allegations of sexual abuse against the Met’s (now late) music director James Levine, leading to a flood of revelations that confirmed longtime rumors. In the spring of 2020, with COVID ravaging New York and the world, Gelb suspended paychecks for the opera’s orchestra musicians, chorus, and stagehands, forcing some players to exhaust their savings, take early retirement or move back in with their parents. Most recently, Gelb fired Anna Netrebko, the house’s most bankable diva, over her affinity for Vladimir Putin. 

I met Gelb one sunny afternoon at his office at the Met, right after his recent back surgery. Gelb was warm and affable. After our 45 minutes were up, I looked back over my notes and realized I had at least ten questions I still wanted to ask.