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James Levine

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James Levine
James Lawrence Levine ( born June 23, 1943) is an American conductor and pianist. He is primarily known for his tenure as Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera (the "Met"), a position he held for 40 years (1976–2016). He was formally terminated by the Met from all his positions and affiliations with the company on March 12, 2018 over sexual misconduct allegations that he denies. Levine has made numerous recordings, as well as television and radio broadcasts, with the Met. Levine has also held leadership positions with the Ravinia Festival, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1980 he started the Lindemann Young Artists Development Program, and he has often trained promising singers, conductors, and musicians for professional careers. After taking an almost two-year health-related hiatus from conducting from 2011 to 2013, Levine retired as the Met's full-time Music Director following the 2015/16 season to become Music Director Emeritus. On December 2, 2017, The New York Times published a front-page story containing detailed accounts of four men in their 40s to 60s alleging their long-term sexual abuse by Levine occurring decades earlier, while each was a music student of his in his teens or early 20s. The following day, the Met suspended Levine and cancelled his future scheduled engagements. The Ravinia Festival also promptly severed all ties with Levine, as did the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which announced that Levine would never again "be employed or contracted by the BSO at any time in the future." Following an investigation that ended in March 2018, having "found credible evidence", the Met terminated its relationship with Levine, for "sexually abusive and harassing conduct".
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Born
1943-06-23
Birth Place
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Famous As
Conductor , pianist
Known For
Music_director
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theviolinchannel.com

Metropolitan Opera, James Levine Estate Sued Over Sexual Abuse for $25 Million

Content warning: This article contains mentions of sexual misconduct. A man who accused longtime Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine of sexual misconduct over many years — beginning when the survivor was 15 years old — filed a lawsuit against Levine's estate and the Metropolitan Opera on August 14 seeking $25 million in damages.
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New York Post

Sex accuser of late Met Opera maestro James Levine sues for $25M

A man who accused disgraced Metropolitan Opera maestro James Levine of molesting him for years as a teen has filed a $25 million suit over the alleged abuse. The victim — who brought the case anonymously under the name John Doe in Manhattan Supreme Court late Friday — claims he was “sexually and mentally abused” by the since-deceased legendary conductor while an underage teen and “over the course of many years,” according to court papers.
MANHATTAN, NY
Picture for Sex accuser of late Met Opera maestro James Levine sues for $25M
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Slipped Disc

James Levine estate and the Met face $25m sex abuse claim

A victim has filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court, claiming $25 million in damages for sexual and mental abuse by the former Metropolitan Opera music director, James Levine. The man, named as ‘John Doe’, says the abuse began in 1985 when he was 15 and continued for nine years. He claims Levine ‘routinely connected the sexual abuse with promises of a career with the Metropolitan Opera’. He further alleges that ‘Levine provided plaintiff with thousands of Euros, while continuing to sexually abuse him’ and that at least three Met employees were aware of the abusive relationship.
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Slipped Disc

Composer apologises for comments on James Levine

The American composer John Harbison has just issued this retraction on his website:. Thank you to everyone who wrote in response to my commentary on James Levine, following the announcement of his death, which appeared in the prior issue of this newsletter. I’m grateful for each of the heartfelt comments,...
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villages-news.com

Conductor James Levine’s miserable last years serve as reminder to remain active

James Levine was among America’s most acclaimed and successful orchestra conductors. He was the music director of the Metropolitan Opera, conducting 2,552 performances from 1976 to 2016, when he was felled by the ravages of Parkinson’s disease. He also directed the Munich Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and was the winner of eight Grammy Awards and the 1997 National Medal of Arts.
ENTERTAINMENT
The Week

Conductor James Levine has died at 77

James Levine, who led New York's Metropolitan Opera as conductor, musical director, and artistic director from 1971 until he was fired in 2018, has died. He was 77, and his longtime doctor, Len Horowitz, said Wednesday that Levine died of natural causes on March 9 in Palm Springs, California. Levine...
NEW YORK CITY, NY
musicalamerica.com

Remembering James Levine

I attended not his first but his second appearance at the Metropolitan Opera, on June 12, 1971, the debut of a 27-year-old conductor in Tosca that quickly attracted a buzz. It was a Saturday night during one of the seasons in June that used to follow the spring tour. Not much of interest tended to happen then, but the debut of a 27-year-old conductor in Tosca quickly attracted a buzz, of which the audience that night was clearly aware. To say that Levine brought enthusiasm to Puccini’s score, as sung by Grace Bumbry, Franco Corelli, and Peter Glossop, would be a major understatement. The curtain calls for Levine were prolonged and vociferous—too prolonged and too vociferous, apparently, for one person who, perhaps thinking that such a reaction should be reserved for more seasoned artists, started to boo. Or maybe he just disliked the performance.
PERFORMING ARTS
Boston Globe

The era of genius worship must end with James Levine

The saying goes that one shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. If that is true, I should say nothing about the late James Levine — and there are probably many who think I should do just that. But in the case of the Metropolitan Opera and Boston Symphony Orchestra’s defrocked former high priest, I believe speaking ill of the dead is not just justified, but necessary.
BOSTON, MA
WBUR

James Levine Dies At 77, Leaving Behind A Complicated Legacy

James Levine — the celebrated longtime music and artistic director of the Metropolitan Opera and the all-too-brief music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra — died at the age of 77 on March 9 of “natural causes” in Palm Springs, California. The announcement mysteriously came over a week after his actual death. After multiple illnesses and accidents and a career-halting scandal, he was scheduled to resume his conducting this past January in Italy, though the pandemic caused a postponement that now can never be recovered. Most of my memories of Levine take place in Boston rather than in New York.
BOSTON, MA
The Guardian

James Levine obituary

Over the course of four decades as its music director, the conductor James Levine, who has died aged 77, took the Metropolitan Opera, New York, to unparalleled heights of professionalism. Ill health caused him to move to an emeritus role in 2016, but still with the prospect of appearances as a conductor.
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BBC

James Levine dies: Conductor led Met Opera before being fired over abuse

Conductor James Levine, who led New York's Metropolitan Opera for 40 years before being fired over sexual abuse allegations, has died at the age of 77. The Met dismissed Mr Levine in 2018 after an internal inquiry found "credible evidence" of historic sexual abuse against young male musicians. Prior to...
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Slipped Disc

So James Levine got married

A statement by James Levine’s agent informed US media that the conductor, who has died aged 77, is ‘survived by wife Suzanne Thomson, his longtime companion whom he married last year’. The sources of this statement is Andrea Anson, formerly of Columbia Artists and, since that agency collapseed, working with...
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Slipped Disc

Silence from Yannick over James Levine

In contrast to his usual media-friendly responses, there has been no comment from Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the death of his predecessor James Levine. Nothing, either, from Valery Gergiev, who is Levine’s successor at the Munich Philharmonic. Or Andris Nelsons, his heir at the Boston Symphony. The ego of maestros is...
ENTERTAINMENT
Washington Post

James Levine was a powerful maestro, but an even more powerful myth

If you had asked childhood me to draw you a picture of a conductor, I’d have sketched a silhouette, a shadow in the shape of a man: He’d have his back to you, his arms outstretched as if conjuring some consequential spell and, where his head should be, a stormy scribble of disheveled hair.
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Slipped Disc

Exclusive: John Rockwell surveys 50 years of James Levine

The long-serving New York Times cultural critic John Rockwell observed James Levine at close quarters for most of his life. While the NY Times continues to publish multiple corrections to its Levine obit, Slipped Disc asked coolheaded Rockwell for an assessment of Levine’s life and work. Here it is below his picture byline.
NEW YORK CITY, NY
Voice of America

Famed Metropolitan Opera Conductor James Levine Dies at 77

James Levine, one of the world's most acclaimed conductors who served as music director for the Metropolitan Opera in New York for four decades before sexual abuse accusations ended his career, has died at age 77. Dr. Len Horovitz, his personal physician, said Levine died on March 9 in Palm...
PALM SPRINGS, CA