Conductors are dropping like flies in Europe. Riccardo Muti just resigned as chief conductor from Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. “Despite all my efforts to contribute to your cause,” Muti said, “there are no conditions to ensure the serenity necessary for the success of the production.” The details are vague, but it’s clear there are irreconcilable differences between Muti and the Opera di Roma’s general management.

At Vienna State Opera, more conflicts with general director Dominique Meyer are reportedly to blame for the abrupt resignations of music director Franz Welser-Möst and conductor Bertrand de Billy. In the case of de Billy, the disagreement began in March over one bar of music in a production of _Lohengrin _(really, one bar?); after the argument, Meyer said he “no longer had trust” in di Billy.

This is most likely a fluke streak of mysterious drama bubbles; but without any of the details available, it seems like something got blown out of proportion (to an operatic size, one might say). It’s entertaining for me to imagine these opera types, having an impassioned spat over Wagner (and probably money). Anyway, I hope Opera di Roma and the Staatsoper manage to find themselves a good musical fit, and I’ll be keeping my eyes open in case the trend of the-conductor-who-leaves-in-a-huff continues.

Speaking of a good fight: