“The New Orleans Opera Association’s artistic director was fired this month — for reasons that remain unclear — by the president of the board of directors, only to be reinstated a few days later by a board that refused to accept its president’s action. Before Robert Lyall’s reinstatement this past week by an overwhelming vote, one angry board member sent a letter to her colleagues denouncing those responsible for Lyall’s dismissal as “nincompoops” and canceling a $135,000 pledge for the opera’s coming season.”