By ANTHONY TOMMASINI [NY Times, 22 March 2006]

Earlier this month, when James Levine announced that he had to withdraw from the rest of this season at the Metropolitan Opera because of a serious shoulder injury, Joseph Volpe, the company's intrepid general manager, hit the phones to line up replacements. Somehow he did it. He found suitable conductors to take over all 25 performances that Mr. Levine was scheduled to conduct at the house through May.