In 2014, the Rome Opera was plunged into upheaval after Riccardo Muti abruptly resigned, a response to management’s expressed plan to fire its 182 orchestra and chorus musicians and rehire them as outside contractors. One only needs to look to Italy – opera’s birthplace – to see the pivotal role of the opera conductor in tough times.

They can also be seen as a beacon of musical sensibility amid all the hurly-burly. As bankable singers come and go, and stage directors are called upon to deliver novel concepts that may or may not succeed, conductors act as an institutional counterweight. The London Coliseum as seen from the pit (photo: flickr/sshingler)īut in the last few years, opera conductors have risen up the prestige ladder in classical music. It’s divas who sell tickets and get the big curtain calls at the end of the night. The role, after all, is confined to a pit and lacks the literal visibility of a traditional orchestra directorship. To the average audience member, the departure of an opera conductor might seem disruptive but hardly dire. In a letter to musicians, obtained by the Guardian, Wigglesworth wrote, “The company is evolving now into something I do not recognize, and as hard as I have tried to argue to maintain what I believe to be the fundamental pillars of our identity, I have failed to persuade others of this necessity.” His resignation comes in the wake of a 29% cut in government funding and reductions in pay and work hours for singers, among other changes. Mark Wigglesworth, the music director of the English National Opera for the past six months, resigned Tuesday, provoking dismay and hand-wringing over the future of the beleaguered company.

Metropolitan opera conductor