Did Muti Dig His Own Grave In Milan?

Riccardo Muti is more than a larger-than-life character in the world of Italian opera. He is also a shrewd politician, and while he may have gotten himself into a world of trouble with his latest attempts to consolidate power around himself at La Scala, it would be a mistake to count him out just yet. Still, there is little question that Muti is losing this battle: “Talent or no talent, most people in the house have had enough of a regime where, as one described it, ‘Supplicants gather outside his door like the Marschallin’s levée.'”