Daniele Rustioni, an Italian conductor who has become a fixture of the Metropolitan Opera in recent years, has been named its principal guest conductor, the company announced on Wednesday.
When he joins the Met next season, Rustioni, 41, will be tasked with helping to bring stability and continuity to the Met Orchestra whenever the company's music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, an ever-busy maestro, is away. The ensemble is still working to rebuild after a wave of retirements during the pandemic.
"The chemistry I feel with this orchestra and chorus is quite special," Rustioni said in an interview. "They give an incredible amount of energy, and they are always super committed."
Rustioni, who will serve an initial three-year term, will lead at least two operas each season, the Met said. He is only the third person in the company's 141-year history to hold the title of principal guest conductor. Fabio Luisi, the last maestro to occupy the post, was hired in 2010 when the Met was grappling with the unpredictable health problems of James Levine, its former music director.
Nézet-Séguin, the Met's music director since 2018, said that he and Rustioni had shared artistic values, and that "having Daniele in this elevated role is good for the orchestra, good for the chorus and good for opera."
Under Nézet-Séguin, the Met Orchestra has worked to recover from the pandemic, filling 17 vacancies and going on high-profile tours in Europe and Asia. But critics have raised concerns about the Met Orchestra's quality and consistency.
Peter Gelb, the Met's general manager, said that he and Nézet-Séguin believed it was important to bring "an extra pair of capable hands," given Nézet-Séguin's packed schedule. In addition to his duties at the Met, Nézet-Séguin leads the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal. He is also head of conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music.
"In the world in which we live today, where the greatest conductors have multiple full-time jobs, it's necessary to augment that," Gelb said.
The Met said that in future seasons, Rustioni will lead a new production of Verdi's "Simon Boccanegra," as well as revivals of Mozart's "Don Giovanni," Puccini's "La Bohème" and Giordano's "Andrea Chénier."
Rustioni, who was born in Milan and was mentored by the renowned conductor Riccardo Muti, has held posts at the Opéra National de Lyon in France and the Ulster Orchestra in Ireland. From 2021 to 2023, he served as the Bavarian State Opera's first principal guest conductor.
He made his Met debut in 2017, in Verdi's "Aida." He has been a regular since then, leading operas like Bizet's "Carmen" and Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro." He was also on the podium to lead the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall last year.
In 2021, Rustioni came to the company's rescue when Nézet-Séguin announced that he would take a four-week sabbatical and withdrew from a revival of "Figaro." During that same period, Rustioni was also conducting a new production of Verdi's "Rigoletto" at the Met.
Rustioni said that he and the orchestra had established a level of comfort that allowed them to get through the strains of that moment.
"They trusted me, and I trusted them 100 percent," he said. "I felt at home."