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    约瑟夫"沃尔佩，现年65岁，在担任大都会歌剧院第十任总经理十六年后，决定于2006年8月正式退休。决定一出，许多人都惊讶不已。这预示着沃尔佩时代将宣告结束。

   “我为什么选择离开？”约瑟夫"沃尔佩语气坚定：“因为时候到了。”
   “在这儿我已经把我能做的都做了。”不管是坐在那张宽大的书桌后，还是在远离大都会观众席的迂曲走廊，亦或是在那间最初属于鲁道夫"宾的行政办公室，他都非常平静、表情安详地谈自己的离开。“我早就这么觉得，如果我只当15年总经理的话，那也只能说是接近完满。我为什么这么说呢？因为我的工作，几乎是我生活的全部。”但实际上，他在大都会的42个年头，创造了从一个干粗活的木匠蜕变至如今的总经理的神话……

An era in Metropolitan Opera history will end this season, when Joseph Volpe steps down as the company’s general manager after a sixteen-year run. BARRY SINGER gets the ultimate hands-on executive to open up about his successes — and some of his disappointments.

Joseph Volpe answers his own question with characteristic certitude. “Why now?” he asks. “Because the time has come.”

Sixteen years after becoming the Metropolitan Opera’s tenth general manager, Volpe, now sixty-five, will end his own reign with a retirement effective August 2006. The decision took many by surprise......