New York Metropolitan Opera (MET) Orchestra

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).

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