Battle Fatigue

Even by the famously hot-blooded standards of opera, last week's passionate dramma giocoso at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City was positively -- well, operatic. In the fiery lead role was the mercurial lyric soprano Kathleen Battle, renowned for leaving a trail of ill will in her wake wherever she goes. Opposing her were the forces of decorum and rectitude, represented by Met general manager Joseph Volpe. The denouement was catastrophe. Volpe, citing "unprofessional actions . . . profoundly detrimental to the artistic collaboration among all the cast members," summarily fired Battle from this week's production of Donizetti's The Daughter...