Well, this might be the least surprising news story of the week. As Italian newspapers report, variously, that Riccardo Chailly or Fabio Luisi will be taking over at La Scala, Daniel Barenboim has announced that he will be leaving Italy's preeminent opera house early. He will now be stepping down at the start of 2015.
Barenboim, who took over as La Scala's music director in 2011, will now be leaving at around the same time as the house's superintendent, Stephane Lissner. Lissner, himself, will be followed by Salzburg alumnus Alexander Pereira, who has indicated that he would like an Italian to succeed Barenboim.
But the Israeli-Argentinian conductor has more than enough to keep him occupied, including another major opera house, in Berlin. As for the two main contenders, Chailly would appear to be the more credible--he is thought to be the popular choice, and in any case, Luisi is the heir apparent to James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera.
Chailly has just issued a well-received cycle of the Brahms symphonies on Decca in direct competition, as an accident of timing, with concurrent sets by Valery Gergiev on LSO Live and John Axelrod on Telarc.
Previous music directors at La Scala have included some of the greatest conductors of their eras. Among them have been Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, Carlo Maria Giulini, Victor de Sabata, Tulio Serafin and, of course, Arturo Toscanini.
