By Alex Ross [New Yorker, 29 March 2010]
Peter Gelb’s regime as the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera began triumphantly. On the opening night of the 2006-07 season, the company presented Anthony Minghella’s production of “Madama Butterfly”—a dreamlike, intensely lyrical staging that had originated at the English National Opera. Although most of that season had been fixed in advance by Joseph Volpe, Gelb’s predecessor, the incoming manager deftly inserted the Minghella show into the schedule.