Met Conductor Gets the Ax

Just because it’s opera doesn’t mean it’s civilized: Conductor Leonard Slatkin has stepped down from a Metropolitan Opera production for “personal reasons” after he had a “screaming fight” with star Angela Gheorghiu last week. Slatkin’s conducting was widely criticized in the press, with The New York Times critic observing: “I have seldom heard such faulty coordination between a conductor and a cast." He will be replaced by three alternating conductors.