James Levine

Conductor and pianist James Levine shaped opera and orchestral music over four decades, directing productions and concerts worldwide while occasionally appearing as a collaborative pianist. His longest association was with New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where he served as music director for more than forty years until his death in 2021. By that time he had participated in well over two hundred recordings, many of which continue to be regarded as benchmarks.

Levine entered the world on June 23, 1943, in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a youngster he studied both violin and piano, and at ten he performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, with the Cincinnati Symphony. During his late teens he pursued piano studies at summer music festivals. At the Juilliard School he worked on piano with Rosa Lhevinne and took conducting lessons with Jean Morel. An apprenticeship under George Szell at the Cleveland Orchestra led to his appointment as assistant conductor there from 1965 to 1970. In 1973 he assumed leadership of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony, and of Cincinnati’s May Festival. His first engagement at the Metropolitan Opera occurred in summer 1971, when he conducted Puccini’s Tosca.

Following Rafael Kubelik’s departure, the Metropolitan Opera named Levine principal conductor in 1972. He advanced to music director in 1975 and retained the post for more than four decades, becoming the company’s first conductor to hold that title exclusively. Under his guidance the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra attained world-class status, and his extended leadership ushered in what many viewed as a golden era for the house. A gala marking his twenty-fifth anniversary in 1996 featured numerous singers and stretched across eight uninterrupted hours.

Levine also earned wide respect in Europe. Beginning in 1975 he returned regularly to the Salzburg Festival, frequently leading Mozart operas. A 1977 recording captured tenor Plácido Domingo and soprano Renata Scotto with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur under his baton. He proved equally authoritative in Wagner, appearing at the Bayreuth Festival from 1982 onward. On the concert platform he led the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, and he served as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic from 1999 to 2004. In 2004 he became music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 2011.

After years of private health challenges, Levine disclosed in 2016 that he suffered from Parkinson’s disease and stepped down as the Metropolitan’s music director, receiving the title of conductor emeritus. Allegations of sexual assault surfaced in 2017, resulting in his dismissal by the company in 2018. Levine rejected the claims, and in 2020 the Met reached a settlement reported to include a payment of $3.5 million to the conductor.

His repertory spanned works from Bach, Haydn, and Mozart to Iannis Xenakis, a breadth mirrored in his more than two hundred recordings. Colleagues described his podium manner as both charismatic and efficient. He recorded extensively with the Metropolitan Opera, often for RCA, and with other companies; among his orchestral discs is a Chicago Symphony contribution to the Fantasia 2000 soundtrack. As a pianist he collaborated with leading vocalists and participated in numerous chamber-music sessions. Levine died in Palm Springs, California, on March 9, 2021.