At the Met, a daring new production of ‘Carmen’ takes flight “... Rustioni drew particular tartness from the flutes and strings, and whipped up a wild, windblown energy across the orchestra that lent the whole score a refreshing vivacity.

The conductor Daniele Rustioni kept to moderate, well-judged tempos, and the train always stayed firmly on the tracks, including precise work by the chorus ... In the preludes to the third and fourth acts were glimpses of a wilder, more expansive and more beautiful vision of Bizet’s score.

Daniele Rustioni was a 10-year-old in the La Scala children’s chorus when he saw Riccardo Muti for the first time.