In the most opulent of times, running the Metropolitan Opera is a fiendishly difficult job. In a period of inflation and curtailed money for the arts, it may not be possible at all. Leaving aside routine struggles with savage divas and hollowheaded tenors, the Met poses awesome problems of scale. It is, after all, the largest opera house in the world. Filling its cavernous stage with scenery has broken many a budget. Casting a cold and not always knowing eye over the balance sheet is a board of directors —many recruited on Wall Street—that is bigger by 21 members than...
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