Levine fired over abuse claims

James Levine, whose 46-year career at New York’s Metropolitan Opera established him as a towering figure in classical music, was fired Monday after an investigation found evidence of sexual abuse and harassment. Levine was music or artistic director from 1976 until he stepped down two years ago due to Parkinson’s disease. The Met suspended him in December after accounts in the New York Post and The New York Times of sexual misconduct dating to the 1960s, even before his Met career. The Met said “any claims or rumours that members of (its) management or its board of directors engaged in a coverup … are completely unsubstantiated.” It has hired Montreal conductor Yannick Nézet- Séguin to replace Levine.