The way I see it, there are bad ideas, like the revival of 1980s style for men or the U.S. defaulting on its debt ceiling. Then there are geniunely horrific delusions that should not even be mentioned in public, the kind of stuff you read in the comments section of breitbart.com. Today in Bloomberg’s coverage…

By on July 01, 2011 at 11:35 AM

As we approach the end of the first all-Peter Gelb season at the Met, there’s already a certain amount of editorial judgment on the General Manager’s “aesthetic agenda.” That’s only fair, of course: judgement is what critics do.  

By on April 19, 2010 at 11:18 PM
61 comments

“Volpe, who is 69, wants to set the record straight, now that Peter Gelb is being held up as the architect of a new, dynamic Met: with enough money, he too could have been creative. ‘Peter spends money in ways I never could,’ Volpe told me. ‘If I had Mercedes Bass and I could have…

By on April 01, 2010 at 8:17 PM
138 comments

The arts journalist La Cieca would like be when she grows up, Zachary Woolfe, continues his analysis of Peter Gelb‘s Met tenure — now all the more interesting since Joe Volpe has returned to the fold. [Observer]

By on February 09, 2010 at 11:45 PM
85 comments

The 1990s never ended, it seems. Joe Volpe back at the Met, and his one-time sidekick Alberto Vilar back in the news. The Felonious Philanthropist, donor of abut $12 million to the Met during Volpe’s tenure, was sentenced yesterday to nine years in prison for such charges as securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.…

By on February 06, 2010 at 4:36 PM
24 comments

“Joseph Volpe, who served as the Met’s general manager from 1990 to 2006 and authored a memoir about the experience called The Toughest Show on Earth, has been hired by Mr. Gelb, his successor, to represent the company in upcoming contract negotiations with its three major labor unions.”   [New York Observer]

By on February 04, 2010 at 2:57 PM
28 comments

Whenever La Cieca (center) feels afraid, she doesn’t just hold her head erect or whistle a happy tune (though she’s been known to do both on occasion), she reminds herself, “You know, things could be a lot worse than what they are!”  

By on October 14, 2009 at 12:24 PM
9 comments