James Levine

James Levine – born June 23, 1943 in Cincinnati, Ohio – was a world-renowned conductor and pianist best-known as the first musical director of the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, where he served for forty years. He is also regarded as one of the great opera performers of his generation. James Levine proved to be a precocious pianist and performed his first concert with the city's Symphony Orchestra at the age of 10. A pupil of Rudolf Serkin and Rosina Lhévinne, he began studying at the Juilliard School in New York in 1961, where he learned conducting from Jean Morel. Shortly thereafter, he became George Szell's assistant at the Cleveland Orchestra from 1964 to 1970. As the professor at the Cleveland Institute of Music (1965-1972), he conducted the opera Tosca with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra (1970), then the Metropolitan Opera (1971), where he was named first principal conductor (1973) and musical director (1976-2016). In his early days, James Levine successfully covered the repertoire of Italian opera with performers such as Montserrat Caballé, Placido Domingo, Renata Scotto and Sherill Milnes, before moving towards romantic symphonic music. Appointed to the conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra (1999-2004), then to the Boston Symphony Orchestra (2004-2011), he also conducted other groups such as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as the Ravinia Festival (1973-1993), the Cincinnati May Festival (1974-1978), the Salzburg Festival and Bayreuth, where he conducted Wagner's Tetralogy (1994). In addition to these functions, he continued his activity as a pianist and accompanist in works of chamber music or recitals of lieder and melodies. James Levine was honored with numerous awards including the National Medal of the Arts (1997) and the Kennedy Center Honors (2002). His recording career began in the early 1970s and he is featured on more than 200 releases including early albums such as Giovanna D’Arco (1973) mid-career releases like Verdi: La For a del Destino (1998) and late period albums including Lieder & Liebeslieder Waltzes (2016). Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, the conductor saw his activity affected by health problems and operations, which forced him to use a wheelchair. The end of his life was marked by a dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 2018 after accusations of sexual assaults. James Levine died on March 9, 2021, at the age of 77.