The Metropolitan Opera has named Sony Classical president Peter Gelb to succeed Joseph Volpe as general manager. The appointment came more quickly than some observers were anticipating – Volpe won’t leave his post until 2006 – and Gelb could be seen as an unexpected GM, having had no direct experience in the performance world. “The Met has 850 full-time and 1,200 part-time employees and a budget of $204 million, and it mounts as many as 30 productions a year. The general manager has to deal with 18 unions, scores of instrumentalists and temperamental stars.”