Riccardo Muti has left the NYPO with egg on its face after it made a public
announcement that it had offered him its directorship (and not even my
hometown band has been that silly).  As expected by some, he couldn't bring
himself to leave La Scala, and NY didn't want a part-time director.

Early speculation has NY going after Maris Jansons (I'd be stunned if he
moved to NY) and Christoph Eschenbach (inexplicably, in my book, though
his connection with Zarid Mehta, the new exec director, seems the reason).
Why the NYPO seems so fixated on older conductors is perplexing.

Robin Mitchell-Boyask
Temple University
Philadelphia PA 19122