“The work [by Giuseppe Penone], titled Foglie di pietra (2017), was commissioned by the luxury fashion brand Fendi and placed outside its flagship boutique. But getting the work installed required negotiations with an array of state bureaucrats, including the landmark authority and the ministry of culture.”

“As Mr. Gilbert prepares to leave, it is clear from interviews that things did not go quite as planned. … And it’s in doubt whether some factions of the organization really want change after all: The pathbreaking new-music happenings that marked Mr. Gilbert’s early tenure have been scaled back in scope and daring in recent years because of what he called, in a recent conversation in his studio at Geffen Hall, ‘financial pressures and, I would say, philosophical differences.'”

“[He] has expanded the mind-set of the Philharmonic – the major legacy of his tenure. His artistic priorities now seem embedded in the orchestra’s identity. It must champion contemporary music. … It must continue to appoint dynamic performers as artists in residence and give them a say in programming. It must regularly leave Lincoln Center to perform unusual programs in spaces large and small, from National Sawdust in Brooklyn to the massive Park Avenue Armory.”