Joseph Volpe

Joseph Volpe’s improbable rise from apprentice carpenter to General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera is documented in his memoir The Toughest Show on Earth. His rough and tumble personality often created friction between him and some of the Met management’s “bluebloods” who saw him as too unrefined to lead. He writes about this friction with a mix of pride and resentment.
The book is wildly self-serving and is Volpe’s opportunity to publicly settle more than a few scores. At times show more too, Volpe is somewhat self-aggrandizing, often scornful and occasionally just plain mean, but this book delivers what others only promise – lots of juicy insider dish. What also comes through is his dogged protectiveness and love for the Met.
Volpe pulls no punches and writes both lovingly and with rancor about some of the Met’s personalities. He is surprisingly brutal in his descriptions of various individuals in the Met’s management - with two major exceptions. He describes how Rudolf Bing who is Volpe's polar opposite in every way, mentored him. He also writes how Bruce Crawford, the Met’s Board President brilliantly and skillfully stewarded the Met back from near bankruptcy.
Though he's not one to dwell, he does discuss several regrets. His soured relationship with John Dexter, the director of numerous acclaimed productions in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s and his famous firing of the notoriously difficult soprano Kathleen Battle are both described and justified. He does seem a bit wistful that both relationships could not be salvaged.
He has soaring praise and respect for James Levine and he writes lovingly and protectively of Luciano Pavarotti. Pavarotti evidently could even charm Volpe, a man who seems immune to that brand of outsized charisma in other divas.
For all his bluster, the book illustrates Volpe’s fierce protectiveness and love for the institution. Toward the end, he writes:

"It’s a company in the true sense-a collective of singers, musicians, dancers, directors, designers, and backstage and front-of-the-house people of many callings. They all work at the Met because making opera is a job for the human spirit." show less

Many anecodtes, mosst of them familiar, and of course the author is the hero of all of them--but still an entertaining read for anyone who loves opera, or theater, or New York City