MUSIC

Alexander Lazarev, recently appointed the chief director of Moscow’s Bolshoi Opera, told the Soviet newspaper Sovietskaya Rossiya that singers at the Bolshoi should not be allowed to stay on the staff for more than 20 years. The Bolshoi has been criticized in both Soviet and Western news media for relying on older performers instead of talented new artists. In remarks published Sunday, Lazarev said he had submitted proposals to the Soviet Culture Ministry that singers who had spent 20 years on the staff should be pensioned off or receive only short-term contracts. Lazarev did not advocate radical changes in the company’s repertoire.