James Levine, an American conductor whose influence on the Metropolitan Opera’s repertoire is among the greatest in history, died on March 9, 2021.
Levine’s rise in the Metropolitan was as fast as his fall. After his debut in 1971, at the age of twenty-seven, Levine was appointed chief conductor of this opera house. He worked in leading positions until his suspension in 2017 and his final dismissal in 2017 due to a sex scandal.
Met’s musical profile, significantly different from the profiles of other houses, became a direct reflection of Levine’s taste and interest. We can freely say that Zandonai’s “Francesca da Rimini”, an obscure work of verism, would not have received a lavish new production in the centenary of the Metropolitan if Levine had not been a great admirer of this work. Berg’s “Wojciech” would not have returned to Met’s repertoire without Levine’s persistent, patient insistence.
Also, it is certain that Met, under any other music director, would not have survived the years from 1967 to 1991 without new premieres. Levine was far more inclined to stage premieres of established operas. Among them were “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany” by Kurt Weil, a work only forty-nine years old when it was staged in the Metropolitan in 1979, as well as Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Rage”, staged fifty years after its premiere on Broadway in 1935.
During James Levine times, Mat has performed more than twenty operas each season, with seven performances almost every week. Levine’s performance schedule was astonishing – as early as 1988, he was the conductor with the most performances in Met.
He gave this scene a new production of almost every opera by Mozart, Verdi and Wagner.
However, Levine’s career has slowed sharply since 2010, primarily due to an advanced illness, and then due to a scandal related to alleged sexual harassment.
James Levine died in New York on March 9, 2021.
Source: Metropolitan Opera Press Service
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