Met’s New Music Director: Gay, Gay, Gay
Openly gay, I mean: not like some other conductors. (No names.) The announcement came today: For the first time in four decades, the Metropolitan Opera has a new music director. The company announced on Thursday that it was passing the baton long held by James Levine to Yannick Nézet-Séguin (pictured), the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra known for his vital, visceral brand of music making. But to land the highly sought-after Mr. Nézet-Séguin, 41, to succeed James Levine, 72, who stepped down last month after years of uncertainty and cancellations because of health problems, the Met had to agree to a long engagement period. Since the Montreal-born Mr. Nézet-Séguin’s schedule is booked for several years, he will not officially take up the Met post until the 2020-21 season, leaving the company without a full-time music director in the meantime as it grapples with fiscal challenges and box-office struggles. Let’s hope the company still exists when Yannick “takes the baton.”
