Daniel Wakin breaks the news at nytimes.com. Regular readers know…

… that I’m an admirer of Luisi both in the opera pit and on the concert podium. I’ve heard him conduct some memorable performances of Richard Strauss, Verdi, Mahler, and Beethoven, and his recordings of the major symphonic poems of Richard Strauss with the Staatskapelle Dresden for Sony — which, save for Don Quixote, the imbeciles running their US distribution racket opted not to carry — are the best of the digital era.