James Levine
Encyclopedia
James Lawrence Levine is an American
conductor
and pianist
. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera
and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has conducted 2,512 Met performances. In 1997, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts
.
, to a musical family: his maternal grandfather was a cantor
in a synagogue
, his father was a violin
ist, who led a dance band, and his mother was an actress. He began to play the piano as a small child. At the age of 10, he made his concert debut as soloist in Felix Mendelssohn
's Piano Concerto No. 2 at a youth concert of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
.
Levine subsequently studied music with Walter Levin
, first violinist in the LaSalle Quartet
. In 1956 he took piano lessons with Rudolf Serkin
at the Marlboro Music School, Vermont
. In the following year he began studies with Rosina Lhévinne
at the Aspen Music School
. After graduating from Walnut Hills High School, the acclaimed magnet school in Cincinnati, he entered the Juilliard School of Music in New York City
in 1961, and took courses in conducting with Jean Morel. He graduated from the Juilliard School in 1964 and joined the American Conductors project connected with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
.
From 1964 to 1965, Levine served as an apprentice to George Szell
with the Cleveland Orchestra
and then served as assistant conductor until 1970. That year, he also made his debut as guest conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra
at its summer home at Robin Hood Dell. He made his debut in that same year with the Welsh National Opera
and the San Francisco Opera
. In June, 1971, he was called in at the last moment to substitute for an ailing István Kertész
in the season opener of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
's summer festival, the Ravinia Festival; the program was the Symphony no. 2, "Resurrection," of Gustav Mahler
. This concert began a long association with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
: two years later, in 1973, he was appointed music director
of the Ravinia Festival (his predecessor in this position was Kertész, who had died in April). Levine held the position until 1993, and made numerous recordings with the orchestra, including the symphonies and German Requiem of Johannes Brahms
, and major works of Gershwin, Holst, Berg, Beethoven, Mozart, and others. In 1990, at the request of Roy E. Disney
, he arranged the music and conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the soundtrack of Fantasia 2000
, released by Walt Disney Pictures
. He also served as music director of the Cincinnati May Festival
(1974–1978).
debut on June 5, 1971 http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/james_levine/index.html?scp=1&sq=james%20levine%201971&st=cse in a festival performance of Tosca
. His success led to further appearances and to his appointment as its principal conductor in 1973. He became music director in 1976. In 1983, he served as conductor and musical director for the Franco Zeffirelli
screen adaptation of La Traviata
, which featured the Met orchestra and chorus members. He became the company's first artistic director in 1986, and relinquished the title in 2004.
Under his leadership, the Metropolitan Opera
orchestra and chorus has become one of the finest operatic ensembles in the world, punctuated by the regular concert series for the orchestra and chamber ensembles he began at Carnegie Hall
. On his recent appointment as General Manager of the Met, Peter Gelb
emphasized that James Levine would be welcome to remain as long as he wanted to direct music there.
At the Met, Levine has led numerous new productions of works of Mozart
, Verdi
, Richard Wagner
, Richard Strauss
, Gioachino Rossini, Arnold Schoenberg
, Igor Stravinsky
, Kurt Weill
, Claude Debussy
, Alban Berg
, and George Gershwin
. For the 25th anniversary of his Met debut, Levine conducted the world premiere of John Harbison
's The Great Gatsby, commissioned especially to mark the occasion.
Levine has led the Metropolitan Opera on many domestic and international tours. The company broadcasts regular Live-In-HD television around the world to cinemas, and live Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
every Saturday afternoons around the world each season from December to April.
One unique condition that Levine negotiated was increased flexibility of the time allotted for rehearsal, allowing the orchestra additional time to prepare more challenging works. Since the start of his tenure, the orchestra has also established an "Artistic Initiative Fund" of about US$
40 million to fund the more expensive of Levine's projects.
One criticism of Levine during his BSO tenure is that he did not attend many orchestra auditions. A 2005 article reported that Levine had attended two out of 16 auditions during his tenure up to that time. Levine himself has responded that he has the ability to provide input on musician tenure decisions after the initial probationary period, and that it is difficult to know how well a given player will fit the given position until that person has had a chance to work with the orchestra: "My message is the audition isn't everything."
Another 2005 report stated that during Levine's first season as music director, the greater workload from the demands of playing more unfamiliar and contemporary music has increased physical stress with some of the BSO musicians. Levine and the players met to discuss this, and he agreed to program changes to lessen these demands. Levine has received general critical praise for revitalizing the quality and repertoire since the beginning of his tenure.
In April 2010, in the wake of Levine's continuing health problems, it emerged that Levine had not officially signed a contract extension, so that Levine was the BSO's music director without a signed contract.
On March 2, 2011, the BSO announced that Levine would step down from his post as Music Director in September of 2011, after the Orchestra's Tanglewood season. He had been experiencing ongoing health problems, starting with an onstage fall in 2006 that resulted in a torn rotator cuff
and started discussion of how much longer Levine's tenure with the BSO would be. The announcement brought to a sad end Levine's belated bid for recognition as a transformational orchestral conductor.
. Levine has also been a regular guest with the Philharmonia
of London and the Dresden Staatskapelle. Since 1975, he has also conducted regularly at the Salzburg Festival
and the annual July Verbier Festival
. From 1999 to 2004, Levine was chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic orchestra, and was credited with improving the quality of instrumental ensemble during his tenure.
Levine also performs regularly in chamber music
ensembles and as an accompanist in Lied
er recitals.
Levine was conductor of the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra, the student resident orchestra at the annual summer music festival in Verbier
, Switzerland
, from 2000 through 2006. It was Levine's first long-term commitment to a student orchestra since becoming music director at the Met. After becoming Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Levine has also served as Music Director of the Tanglewood Music Center
, the BSO's acclaimed summer academy at Tanglewood for student instrumentalists, singers, composers, and conductors. There he conducts the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, directs fully staged opera performances with student singers, and gives master classes for singers and conductors.
Levine himself has said in interviews:
Conductors he has helped and influenced through his musical mentoring include Marco Armiliato, James Conlon
, and John Keenan.
and what he has called "intermittent tremors". On March 1, 2006, Levine fell onstage during a standing ovation after a performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and tore the rotator cuff in his right shoulder, leaving the remaining subscription concerts in Boston to his assistant conductor at the time, Jens Georg Bachmann. Later that month, Levine underwent surgery to repair the injury. He returned to the podium on July 7, 2006, leading the BSO at Tanglewood
.
Levine withdrew from the majority of the Tanglewood 2008 summer season, because of surgery required to remove a kidney with a malignant cyst
. He returned to the podium in Boston on September 24, 2008, leading the BSO's season opening concert at Symphony Hall
. On September 29, 2009, it was announced that Levine would undergo emergency back surgery for a herniated disk
. He missed some three weeks of engagements, including a season opening performance at Carnegie Hall
with the BSO, performances of Tosca
at the Met, and regular BSO subscription concerts.
In March 2010, the BSO announced that Levine would miss the remainder of the Boston Symphony season because of back pain. The Metropolitan Opera also announced, on April 4, 2010, that Levine was withdrawing from the remainder of his scheduled performances for the season. According to the Met, Levine was required to have "corrective surgery for an ongoing lower back problem." Levine returned to conducting duties at the Met and the BSO at the beginning of the 2010-11 season, but in February 2011 he cancelled his Boston engagements for the rest of the season, including the Tanglewood summer festival. These cancellations were followed by the announcement that Levine would officially resign from his post as Music Director on September 1, 2011.. In the summer of 2011 Levine underwent further surgery on his back. In September, it was announced that he would not conduct at the Met at least for the rest of 2011, and that Fabio Luisi
would step up to the role of principal conductor..
with Leontyne Price
, her last in opera, was preserved on video and may be seen at the Met's own online archive of performances. Of particular note are his performances of Wagner's complete Der Ring des Nibelungen
. A studio recording made for Deutsche Grammophon
in 1987–1989 can be found on compact disc and a 1989 live performance of the Ring is available on DVD.
. He conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
in the soundtrack recordings of all the music in the film (with the exception of one segment from the original 1940 Fantasia
). Levine is also seen in the film talking to Mickey Mouse
before introducing the Pomp and Circumstance March #4
segment.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
and pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has conducted 2,512 Met performances. In 1997, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
.
Early years
Levine was born in Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, to a musical family: his maternal grandfather was a cantor
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
in a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, his father was a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist, who led a dance band, and his mother was an actress. He began to play the piano as a small child. At the age of 10, he made his concert debut as soloist in Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's Piano Concerto No. 2 at a youth concert of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
As the fifth oldest orchestra in the United States, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has a legacy of fine music making as reflected in its performances in historic Music Hall, recordings, and international tours...
.
Levine subsequently studied music with Walter Levin
Walter Levin
Walter Levin is a German-born musician who founded and played first violin of the LaSalle Quartet at Colorado College. Levin was also professor of violin and chamber music for thirty-six years at the University of Cincinnati. Since 2002, he has been Adviser of the Chamber Music Chair at the Escuela...
, first violinist in the LaSalle Quartet
LaSalle Quartet
The LaSalle Quartet was a string quartet active from 1946 to 1987. It was founded by first violinist Walter Levin. The quartet played on a donated set of Amati instruments....
. In 1956 he took piano lessons with Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....
at the Marlboro Music School, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. In the following year he began studies with Rosina Lhévinne
Rosina Lhévinne
Rosina Bessie Lhévinne was a Russian American pianist and famed pedagogue....
at the Aspen Music School
Aspen Music Festival and School
The Aspen Music Festival and School, founded in 1949, is an internationally renowned classical music festival that presents music in an intimate, small-town setting...
. After graduating from Walnut Hills High School, the acclaimed magnet school in Cincinnati, he entered the Juilliard School of Music in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1961, and took courses in conducting with Jean Morel. He graduated from the Juilliard School in 1964 and joined the American Conductors project connected with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is a professional American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland.In September 2007, Maestra Marin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the Orchestra’s twelfth music director, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra.The BSO Board...
.
From 1964 to 1965, Levine served as an apprentice to George Szell
George Szell
George Szell , originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer...
with the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
and then served as assistant conductor until 1970. That year, he also made his debut as guest conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
at its summer home at Robin Hood Dell. He made his debut in that same year with the Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera is an opera company founded in Cardiff, Wales in 1943. The WNO tours Wales, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world extensively. Annually, it gives more than 120 performances of eight main stage operas to a combined audience of around 150,000 people...
and the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
. In June, 1971, he was called in at the last moment to substitute for an ailing István Kertész
István Kertész
István Kertész was a Hungarian orchestral and operatic conductor.-Childhood:Kertész was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1929, the first child of Margit Muresian and Miklós Kertész. His sister, Vera, was born four years later...
in the season opener of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
's summer festival, the Ravinia Festival; the program was the Symphony no. 2, "Resurrection," of Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
. This concert began a long association with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
: two years later, in 1973, he was appointed music director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
of the Ravinia Festival (his predecessor in this position was Kertész, who had died in April). Levine held the position until 1993, and made numerous recordings with the orchestra, including the symphonies and German Requiem of Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, and major works of Gershwin, Holst, Berg, Beethoven, Mozart, and others. In 1990, at the request of Roy E. Disney
Roy E. Disney
Roy Edward Disney, KCSG was a longtime senior executive for The Walt Disney Company, which his father Roy Oliver Disney and his uncle Walt Disney founded. At the time of his death he was a shareholder , and served as a consultant for the company and Director Emeritus for the Board of Directors...
, he arranged the music and conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the soundtrack of Fantasia 2000
Fantasia 2000
Fantasia 2000 is a 1999 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was the 38th feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and a sequel to 1940's Fantasia...
, released by Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
. He also served as music director of the Cincinnati May Festival
Cincinnati May Festival
The Cincinnati May Festival is a two-week annual choral festival, held during the last two weekends in May in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The festival's roots go back to the 1840s, when Saengerfests were held in that city, bringing singers from all over the United States and abroad to perform large...
(1974–1978).
Metropolitan Opera
Levine made his Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
debut on June 5, 1971 http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/james_levine/index.html?scp=1&sq=james%20levine%201971&st=cse in a festival performance of Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
. His success led to further appearances and to his appointment as its principal conductor in 1973. He became music director in 1976. In 1983, he served as conductor and musical director for the Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
screen adaptation of La Traviata
La Traviata (1983 film)
La Traviata is a 1982 Italian film written, designed, and directed by Franco Zeffirelli. It is based on the 1853 opera of the same name with music by Giuseppe Verdi and libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. The film actually premiered in Italy in 1982, then went into general release there in 1983. It...
, which featured the Met orchestra and chorus members. He became the company's first artistic director in 1986, and relinquished the title in 2004.
Under his leadership, the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
orchestra and chorus has become one of the finest operatic ensembles in the world, punctuated by the regular concert series for the orchestra and chamber ensembles he began at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. On his recent appointment as General Manager of the Met, Peter Gelb
Peter Gelb
Peter Gelb is an American arts administrator. He is currently General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.-Early life:...
emphasized that James Levine would be welcome to remain as long as he wanted to direct music there.
At the Met, Levine has led numerous new productions of works of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
, Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
, Gioachino Rossini, Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
, and George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
. For the 25th anniversary of his Met debut, Levine conducted the world premiere of John Harbison
John Harbison
John Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
's The Great Gatsby, commissioned especially to mark the occasion.
Levine has led the Metropolitan Opera on many domestic and international tours. The company broadcasts regular Live-In-HD television around the world to cinemas, and live Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
The Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts are a regular series of weekly broadcasts on network radio of full-length opera performances. They are transmitted live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City...
every Saturday afternoons around the world each season from December to April.
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Levine first conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in April 1972. In October 2001, Levine was named music director of the BSO, effective with the 2004–2005 season, with an initial contract of five years, becoming the first American-born conductor to head the BSO.One unique condition that Levine negotiated was increased flexibility of the time allotted for rehearsal, allowing the orchestra additional time to prepare more challenging works. Since the start of his tenure, the orchestra has also established an "Artistic Initiative Fund" of about US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
40 million to fund the more expensive of Levine's projects.
One criticism of Levine during his BSO tenure is that he did not attend many orchestra auditions. A 2005 article reported that Levine had attended two out of 16 auditions during his tenure up to that time. Levine himself has responded that he has the ability to provide input on musician tenure decisions after the initial probationary period, and that it is difficult to know how well a given player will fit the given position until that person has had a chance to work with the orchestra: "My message is the audition isn't everything."
Another 2005 report stated that during Levine's first season as music director, the greater workload from the demands of playing more unfamiliar and contemporary music has increased physical stress with some of the BSO musicians. Levine and the players met to discuss this, and he agreed to program changes to lessen these demands. Levine has received general critical praise for revitalizing the quality and repertoire since the beginning of his tenure.
In April 2010, in the wake of Levine's continuing health problems, it emerged that Levine had not officially signed a contract extension, so that Levine was the BSO's music director without a signed contract.
On March 2, 2011, the BSO announced that Levine would step down from his post as Music Director in September of 2011, after the Orchestra's Tanglewood season. He had been experiencing ongoing health problems, starting with an onstage fall in 2006 that resulted in a torn rotator cuff
Rotator cuff tear
Rotator cuff tears are tears of one or more of the four tendons of the rotator cuff muscles. A rotator cuff injury can include any type of irritation or damage to the rotator cuff muscles or tendons....
and started discussion of how much longer Levine's tenure with the BSO would be. The announcement brought to a sad end Levine's belated bid for recognition as a transformational orchestral conductor.
Conducting in Europe
Levine's Boston Symphony contract limits his guest appearances with American orchestras. However, Levine has conducted regularly in Europe, with the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, and at the Bayreuth FestivalBayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
. Levine has also been a regular guest with the Philharmonia
Philharmonia
The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
of London and the Dresden Staatskapelle. Since 1975, he has also conducted regularly at the Salzburg Festival
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
and the annual July Verbier Festival
Verbier Festival
The Verbier Festival is an international music festival that takes place annually for two weeks in late July and early August in the mountain resort of Verbier, Switzerland.Founded by Swedish expatriate Martin T...
. From 1999 to 2004, Levine was chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic orchestra, and was credited with improving the quality of instrumental ensemble during his tenure.
Levine also performs regularly in chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
ensembles and as an accompanist in Lied
Lied
is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
er recitals.
Work with students
Levine has initiated the Lindemann Young Artists Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, a professional training program for graduated singers with, today, many famous alumni.Levine was conductor of the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra, the student resident orchestra at the annual summer music festival in Verbier
Verbier
Verbier is a village located in southwestern Switzerland in the canton of Valais. It is one of the largest holiday resort and ski areas in the Swiss Alps, is recognized as one of the premiere "off-piste" locations in the world...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, from 2000 through 2006. It was Levine's first long-term commitment to a student orchestra since becoming music director at the Met. After becoming Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Levine has also served as Music Director of the Tanglewood Music Center
Tanglewood Music Center
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops designed to provide an intense training and networking experience...
, the BSO's acclaimed summer academy at Tanglewood for student instrumentalists, singers, composers, and conductors. There he conducts the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, directs fully staged opera performances with student singers, and gives master classes for singers and conductors.
Levine himself has said in interviews:
"At my age, you are naturally inclined towards teaching. You want to teach what you have learned to the next generation so that they don't have to spend time reinventing the wheel. I was lucky that I met the right mentors and teachers at the right moment. I love working with young musicians and singers, and those at the Tanglewood Music Center are unequivocally some of the finest and most talented in the world."
Conductors he has helped and influenced through his musical mentoring include Marco Armiliato, James Conlon
James Conlon
James Conlon is an American conductor and the current Music Director of the Los Angeles Opera.-Early years:Conlon grew up in a family of five children on Cherry Street in Douglaston, Queens, New York. His mother, Angeline L. Conlon, was a freelance writer. His father was an assistant to the New...
, and John Keenan.
Health problems
Levine has experienced recurrent health issues in recent years, including sciaticaSciatica
Sciatica is a set of symptoms including pain that may be caused by general compression or irritation of one of five spinal nerve roots that give rise to each sciatic nerve, or by compression or irritation of the left or right or both sciatic nerves. The pain is felt in the lower back, buttock, or...
and what he has called "intermittent tremors". On March 1, 2006, Levine fell onstage during a standing ovation after a performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and tore the rotator cuff in his right shoulder, leaving the remaining subscription concerts in Boston to his assistant conductor at the time, Jens Georg Bachmann. Later that month, Levine underwent surgery to repair the injury. He returned to the podium on July 7, 2006, leading the BSO at Tanglewood
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...
.
Levine withdrew from the majority of the Tanglewood 2008 summer season, because of surgery required to remove a kidney with a malignant cyst
Cyst
A cyst is a closed sac, having a distinct membrane and division on the nearby tissue. It may contain air, fluids, or semi-solid material. A collection of pus is called an abscess, not a cyst. Once formed, a cyst could go away on its own or may have to be removed through surgery.- Locations :* Acne...
. He returned to the podium in Boston on September 24, 2008, leading the BSO's season opening concert at Symphony Hall
Symphony Hall, Boston
Symphony Hall is a concert hall located at 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by McKim, Mead and White, it was built in 1900 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which continues to make the hall its home. The hall was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1999...
. On September 29, 2009, it was announced that Levine would undergo emergency back surgery for a herniated disk
Spinal disc herniation
A spinal disc herniation , informally and misleadingly called a "slipped disc", is a medical condition affecting the spine due to trauma, lifting injuries, or idiopathic, in which a tear in the outer, fibrous ring of an intervertebral disc allows the soft, central portion A spinal disc herniation...
. He missed some three weeks of engagements, including a season opening performance at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
with the BSO, performances of Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
at the Met, and regular BSO subscription concerts.
In March 2010, the BSO announced that Levine would miss the remainder of the Boston Symphony season because of back pain. The Metropolitan Opera also announced, on April 4, 2010, that Levine was withdrawing from the remainder of his scheduled performances for the season. According to the Met, Levine was required to have "corrective surgery for an ongoing lower back problem." Levine returned to conducting duties at the Met and the BSO at the beginning of the 2010-11 season, but in February 2011 he cancelled his Boston engagements for the rest of the season, including the Tanglewood summer festival. These cancellations were followed by the announcement that Levine would officially resign from his post as Music Director on September 1, 2011.. In the summer of 2011 Levine underwent further surgery on his back. In September, it was announced that he would not conduct at the Met at least for the rest of 2011, and that Fabio Luisi
Fabio Luisi
Fabio Luisi is an Italian conductor. On September 6, 2011, he was named Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera....
would step up to the role of principal conductor..
Recordings
Levine can be seen and heard in many audio and video recordings. Levine has recorded extensively with many orchestras and especially often with the Metropolitan Opera. His performance of AïdaAida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
with Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...
, her last in opera, was preserved on video and may be seen at the Met's own online archive of performances. Of particular note are his performances of Wagner's complete Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
. A studio recording made for Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
in 1987–1989 can be found on compact disc and a 1989 live performance of the Ring is available on DVD.
Film
Levine was featured in the animated Disney film Fantasia 2000Fantasia 2000
Fantasia 2000 is a 1999 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was the 38th feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and a sequel to 1940's Fantasia...
. He conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
in the soundtrack recordings of all the music in the film (with the exception of one segment from the original 1940 Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
). Levine is also seen in the film talking to Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
before introducing the Pomp and Circumstance March #4
Pomp and Circumstance Marches
The "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" , Op. 39 are a series of marches for orchestra composed by Sir Edward Elgar....
segment.