Met conductor faces sexual abuse claim

New York’s Metropolitan Opera said Saturday it will open an investigation into allegations that its longtime conductor, James Levine, sexually abused a man three decades ago, beginning when the man was a teenager.

Levine’s accuser, now middle-aged, contacted the police department in Lake Forest, Ill., in October 2016 to report that he’d had sexual contact with the conductor when he was under 18.

Levine served as music director at the Ravinia Festival, outside Chicago, from 1973 to 1993.

Details of the police report were first reported Saturday by the New York Post. In a statement, Met officials said they had learned of the Illinois investigation last year.

“At the time, Mr. Levine said that the charges were completely false,” the statement said. Met officials said they will “now be conducting our own investigation with outside resources.”

An email to Levine’s manager seeking comment on the accusations was not immediately returned.