See also
Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) served as the MET’s principal conductor (but with no official title) from 1908 to 1915, leading the company in performances of Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (1813-1901), Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and others that set standards for the company for decades to come. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) was a Met conductor during Giulio Gatti-Casazza (1869-1940)‘s first two seasons and in later years conductors Tullio Serafin and Arthur Bodanzky (1877-1939) led the company in the Italian and German repertories respectively.
Principal conductors
- Anton Seidl (1850-1898) period (1885-1897).
- Walter Johannes Damrosch (1862-1950) (1884-1902).
- Alfred Hertz (1902-1915, leading conductor of German repertory).
- Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) (1908-1910).
- Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) (1908-1915).
- Arthur Bodanzky (1877-1939) (1915-1939, leading conductor of German repertory).
- Tullio Serafin (1924-1934).
- Fausto Cleva (1931-1971).
- Ettore Panizza (1934-1942, leading conductor of Italian repertory).
- Erich Leinsdorf (1938-1942, leading conductor of German repertory).
- George Szell (1942-1946).
- Cesare Sodero (1942-1947).
- Fritz Busch (1945-1949).
- Fritz Reiner (1949-1953).
- Dimitri Mitropoulos (1954-1960).
- Erich Leinsdorf (1957-1962).
- Kurt Adler (1943-1973, chorus master and conductor).
- Rafael Kubelík (music director 1973-1974).
- James Levine (music director 1976-2016; artistic director 1986-2004; music director emeritus 2016–present).
- Valery Gergiev (principal guest conductor 1997-2008).
- Fabio Luisi (principal guest conductor 2010-2011; principal conductor 2011-2017).
- Yannick Nézet-Séguin (music director designate 2017-2020; music director beginning 2020).