General Director Leaving Lyric

It's tempting to make a politically incorrect joke. Answer: A bunch of fat people standing around in funny hats. Question: What's an opera without a general director or a music director? Yeah, yeah, I know all opera singers aren't fat, and they only wear the helmets when they sing Wagner. But, as the Globe reported this morning, longtime executive director Janice Mancini Del Sesto (right) is leaving the Boston Lyric Opera in 2009 when her contract expires. Searching for her replacement means delaying the search for a new music director, replacing Stephen Lord, who'll be leaving in 2008. Planning the next couple of seasons is going to be interesting to say the least.

The Lyric's email announcement, which I didn't get around to reading yesterday for holiday reasons, had this to say: During the search for new artistic leadership to replace Music Director Stephen Lord, Jan concluded that Boston Lyric Opera would be better served by putting a new administrative and artistic team in place going forward.  She wanted to give notice of her decision in order to provide ample time for the search and an adequate transition period. It also notes that the Lyric has grown from 64th to 26th in the country during her 17-season tenure.

Photo courtesy BLO. © Eric Antoniou