所幸,我总是喜欢紧张的地方,迅速做出艰难的抉择。我发现大都会在很多方面比我预想的还要差——物质条件、艺术完善性、职业作风、董事会的支持,这些方面比我以前供职的地方都要差很多。就连剧院的财政状况,也非常让人沮丧,特别是在这个世界上最富裕国家的最富裕城市里。我在1949~1950年的职位是观察员,我观察到的大部分,都是如何把一家歌剧院搞滥的教训。在设计一年后开始的,我自己的首个演出季时,显然我必须做出很多变化,挺过一系列 Fortunately, I always like to stressful places, make difficult choices quickly. I find that in many ways the metropolis is worse than I expected - material conditions, artistic integrity, professionalism, and board support, all of which are far worse than those I had previously worked for. Even the theater’s finances are frustrating, especially in the richest cities of the richest countries in the world. My positions in 1949-1950 were observers, and most of what I observed was a lesson of how to get rid of an opera house. When I started my first performance season a year later, obviously I had to make a lot of changes to survive.