The Toughest Show on Earth: My Rise and Reign at the Metropolitan Opera » (Reprint)

Joseph Volpe was born in Brooklyn. He joined the Metropolitan Opera in 1964 and was its general manager for sixteen years. He lives in New York City with his wife, the former ballet dancer Jean Anderson Volpe, and their daughter.

Charles Michener was senior editor for cultural affairs at Newsweek and senior editor at The New Yorker and has written widely on music for many publications. He collaborated with Robert Evans on The Kid Stays in the Picture and was coauthor with Peter Duchin of Ghost of a Chance. He lives in New York.

The Toughest Show on Earth is the ultimate behind-the-scenes chronicle of the divas and the dramas of New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, by the remarkable man who rose from apprentice carpenter to general manager.

Joseph Volpe gives us an anecdote-filled tour of more than four decades at the Met, an institution full of vast egos and complicated politics. With stunning candor, he writes about the general managers he worked under, his embattled rise to the top, the maneuverings of the blue-chip board, and his masterful approach to making a family of such artist-stars as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Teresa Stratas, and Renee Fleming, and such visionary directors as Franco Zeffirelli, Robert Wilson, and Julie Taymor. Intimate and frank, The Toughest Show on Earth is not only essential for music lovers, but for anyone who wants to understand the inner workings of the culture business.

The New York Times - Anthony Tommasini

Written with Charles Michener, the book has been released in conjunction with Volpe's retirement this summer as general manager of the Met, a post he has held for 16 years. As you follow his improbable story you find yourself rooting for this scrappy guy with his blue-collar demeanor as he takes on the Met's trustees.

Preface and Acknowledgments     ix
The Apprentice
"Be Patient"     3
Always on the Go     8
King Farouk     23
A Box at the Metropolitan     28
Too Many Clouds     38
"Can You Handle the Job?"     50
A Man of the Theater     66
From the Water to the Bridge     82
Texas Grit     96
The Turnaround Man     103
The Boss
Breathing with Jimmy     121
Battle Hymn     132
The New Prima Donnas     151
The Playground     173
Siamese Twins     190
The Trapeze Artists     209
No light in the Tunnel     230
The Club     247
The New Class     259
At Home     267
The Angel     277
Bibliography     287
Index     289