Commedia è finite, maestro
Disgraced Met director Levine, 77, dies
James Levine, maestro of the Metropolitan Opera for more than four decades before being fired amid revelations of sexual abuse, has died. He was 77.
Levine’s March 9 death in Palm Springs, Calif., was due to natural causes and confirmed Wednesday by his physician, Dr. Len Horovitz.
The conductor made his Met debut in 1971 and served as music or artistic director from 1976 to 2016, conducting more than 2,500 performances.
“No artist in the 137 year history of the Met had as profound an impact as James Levine,” Met general manager Peter Gelb said in a statement. “He raised the Met’s musical standards to new and greater heights.”
During his illustrious career, the wild-haired maestro expanded the Met’s repertory, receiving acclaim for his performances of Wagner, Verdi and Berg, and his close association with operatic legends Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and Birgit Nilsson.
He won 10 Grammy Awards, and was nominated for 37, and was regarded as the top American conductor after Leonard Bernstien passed away in 1990.
He was eased out of his top position due to back problems and Parkinson’s disease, and was suspended in 2017 after The Post revealed sexualabuse accusations dating to the 1960s involving an Illinois teenager.
“I began seeing a 41-year-old man when I was 15, without really understanding I was really ‘seeing’ him,” the unnamed accuser said to police at the time. “It nearly destroyed my family and almost led me to suicide. I felt alone and afraid.”
An ensuing investigation by the Met found credible evidence that he sexually abused or harassed multiple musicians over a 25-year period.
Levine’s lawyers at the time claimed he was innocent of any misconduct.
Levine was suspended a day after the Post report, and never conducted again. A planned comeback performance in Italy last year was derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The investigation uncovered credible evidence that Mr. Levine had engaged in sexually abusive and harassing conduct both before and during the period when he worked at the Met,” the company said after hiring a former federal prosecutor to interview 70 people.
“The investigation also uncovered credible evidence that Mr. Levine engaged in sexually abusive and harassing conduct towards vulnerable artists in the early stages of their careers, over whom Mr. Levine had authority.”
Levine sued the Met for breach of contract and defamation, seeking at least $5.8 million in damages. Most of the defamation claims were dismissed and the suit was settled out of court.
In addition to his top post at Lincoln Center, Levine served as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Ravinia Festival from 1973-93, the Munich Philharmonic from 1999-2004 and the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 2004-11.
He was a regular with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic, and was applauded by singers for forcing his orchestras to accommodate them.
The Cincinnati native was the grandson of a cantor and the child of a bandleader and Broadway actress. He started taking piano lessons at age 4, and made his professional debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra just six years later.
Levine is survived by his wife, Suzanne Thomson, and his sister Janet.