Being Right Isn’t As Good As Being Popular

Riccardo Muti, who walked out on the La Scala orchestra this week, saying that he could not work with the current management team any longer, may be right that the world’s most famous opera house is being run into the ground by arrogant men. But being right may not be enough to win this battle. “If there’s one thing that doesn’t bode well for Muti, it’s that perception is defying facts. Whether or not Muti knows what’s good for La Scala, a vocal sector of the public doesn’t want to believe him… [T]he issue behind this gulf between perception and fact is that Muti’s brand of operatic integrity is good for the art, but probably not what a large public wants. “