Zachary Woolfe writes about a strange recent incident at the Met: "Before 'Flute' opened, Stutzmann was quoted in The New York Times remarking that McBurney’s production, which raises the pit almost to stage level, lets the musicians see what’s going on rather than keeping them, as usual, in the 'back of a cave' where there’s 'nothing more boring.' Jokey and innocuous. But for some reason, the musicians flew to social media and condemned her for accusing them of playing bored. Even worse, the Met’s music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, rather than standing up for his colleague or trying to resolve the conflict behind the scenes, publicly cheered this unseemly pile-on, adding seven clapping emojis to an Instagram post by the orchestra. He and the musicians should be ashamed of themselves; Stutzmann should be celebrated."
This is undignified behavior by the Met's music director, and he should apologize to his colleague. The Met needs gifted music directors, particularly given Nézet-Séguin's tendency toward abrupt cancellations.
