Music: Death in the Met

It was Friday afternoon and the Metropolitan Opera House was still. In the musty old office which had been Giulio Gatti-Casazza's sat new Manager Herbert Witherspoon, 61, clearing his desk after weeks of planning and budgeting. On Saturday he was to sail for Europe, leaving an announcement of his plans for the world to know on Monday. The last of 279 auditions was over.

New Manager Witherspoon was genial and relaxed as he talked with his aide, Edward Ziegler. He beamed when Treasurer Earle Lewis came in to report that next year's subscriptions...

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