# Bye Bye Jeemy!



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Legendary Maestro James Levine to Retire as Music Director of the
Metropolitan Opera at the End of the Current Season;

Will Become The Company’s First Music Director Emeritus



New York, NY (April 14, 2016) – Maestro James Levine, the Met’s Music
Director since 1976, announced that after 40 years in the position, he will
retire at the end of the current season, for health reasons. At that time,
he will assume the new position of Music Director Emeritus. In this role, he
will continue as the artistic leader of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist
Development Program, a training program for operatic talent he began in
1980, and will continue to conduct some Met performances. Next season, he
will withdraw from the new production of Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, but
plans to lead revivals of Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri, Verdi’s Nabucco
and Mozart’s Idomeneo—three works he has led more than any other conductor
in Met history.

He intends to conduct his remaining performances for the current Met season,
which include the current run of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and a
five-performance revival of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail later
this month, as well as the May 19 and 26 MET Orchestra concerts at Carnegie
Hall. He will not conduct the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on May 22.

Over the course of his unparalleled career at the Met, Levine has led 2,551
performances—far more than any other conductor in Met history—working with
thousands of the world’s most gifted musicians and conducting more than 85
different operas, ranging from 18th century works to contemporary world
premieres. In recent years, Levine has struggled with the effects of
Parkinson’s disease, making it increasingly difficult for him to conduct a
full schedule of Met performances.

“There is no conductor in the history of opera who has accomplished what Jim
has achieved in his epic career at the Met,” said Peter Gelb, the Met’s
General Manager. “We are fortunate that he will continue to play an active
and vital role in the life of the company when he becomes Music Director
Emeritus at the end of the season.”

“Through 45 years of unwavering devotion, Maestro Levine has shaped the MET
Orchestra into the world-class ensemble it is today,” said Jessica Phillips,
chair of the orchestra committee and a clarinetist in the Met’s orchestra.
“He has a unique ability to inspire those around him to perform to the best
of their abilities and beyond. We eagerly anticipate his upcoming projects
as Music Director Emeritus, which promise to add to an already incomparable
legacy of tireless dedication and artistic integrity. It is an honor to
carry the values Maestro Levine has instilled in us into this new era at the
Metropolitan Opera—the house that Jimmy built.”

Replacement conductors for this season’s May 22 Carnegie Hall
concert, and for the remainder of Mo. Levine’s 2016-17 engagements—the new
production of Der Rosenkavalier, and three May 2017 MET Orchestra Carnegie
Hall concerts—will be announced in the coming days.

A plan is in place to appoint a new Music Director for the Met,
who will be announced in the coming months.

As Mo. Levine transitions to his new role at the Met, John
Fisher, currently Director of Music Administration, has been promoted to
Assistant General Manager, Music Administration, effective immediately.
Fisher’s duties include overseeing the Met’s staff conductors, rehearsal
pianists, and prompters; coaching principal singers; and working with Mo.
Levine and the conductors for each Met performance to prepare and maintain
the highest level of musical quality.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bring on ; *Yannick Nézet-Séguin*


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Levine has done a fantastic job as musical director, making the orchestra world class and also keeping the company from the worst effects of the lunatic Regietheatre. One can only hope that the next musical director will have a similarly firm hand.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I do hope they open the archive's and going to release lots of his recordings on DVD


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

I wish him well. Thanks to the "Texaco Matinee" from the Met I would think I've probably listened to him more than any other conductor. Amazingly consistent. I started listening in the early 80's and it's staggering to think he's been a fixture since before then.

Thank you Sir.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Pugg said:


> Bring on ; *Yannick Nézet-Séguin*


Get your hands off my Philly conductor!!


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Get your hands off my Philly conductor!!


We've had him in Rotterdam years ago,that's the place he blossomed


----------



## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

Given his health issues it's amazing he's made it 40 years. A solid output overall.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I'm in the minority but I'm pleased he's going. He gives me the creeps.


----------



## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

sospiro said:


> I'm in the minority but I'm pleased he's going. He gives me the creeps.


The thing I've noticed about him is that in interviews he always seemed dead-serious about everything. That's good as far as it goes, but sometimes I wonder whether he has a sense of humor.

Do you like his conducting?


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Bellinilover said:


> Do you like his conducting?


I think so because I can tolerate him on CD.


----------



## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

sospiro said:


> I think so because I can tolerate him on CD.


I don't like him in bel canto opera except for early Verdi (if you want to call that bel canto), but I do like his Mozart as well as his Wagner and later Verdi.


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

He was great at his job.


----------



## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Bringing it back to the music. I never really rated him as a Wagnerian conductor. His Parsifal DVD had terribly pedestrian conducting as was the Schenck Ring. His Meistersinger was better, although I think the best conducted Wagner I heard him do was the Die Walkure just before he went on sick leave. With Verdi I thought his Otello, Don Carlo and Boccanegra were pretty good as was his Les Troyens and some of his Mozart. He did well to hold on to such a prestigious job for such a long time. YNS seems the favourite but has a lot of jobs. Someone like Luisotti who has run US opera houses and is respected by musicians could be a dark horse. It was noticeable that he is not on the 2016/17 ROH programme which is the first time in years he's not conducted there. Is that a sign?


----------



## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I also think that the Met board may not possibly want someone to be in post as long as Levine and want a shorter term appointment. Someone like Bychkov could then fit the bill.


----------



## Ilarion (May 22, 2015)

sospiro said:


> I'm in the minority but I'm pleased he's going. He gives me the creeps.


Yes, Levine gave me the creeps also...


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Ilarion said:


> Yes, Levine gave me the creeps also...


And that is because ...why?


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

This is starting to become a Hedda Hopper Hollywood gossip column and very unworthy of some fine posters.
For shame. Please leave your dirty underwear at home or else start a thread of your own on the subject but to do this to this thread is low class and inappropriate.


----------



## Ilarion (May 22, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> This is starting to become a Hedda Hopper Hollywood gossip column and very unworthy of some fine posters.
> For shame. Please leave your dirty underwear at home or else start a thread of your own on the subject but to do this to this thread is low class and inappropriate.


Hi Nina and Pugg

I'm sorry that you took offence with my gut feeling about Levine. Its nothing about his personhood that I shared, only his music interpretations. I knew Levine when I lived in New York City and I observed him for a goodly number of years. Again, no character assassinations have been mentioned or implied.


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I respect no musician more than Nilsson and she was crazy about "Jimmy". This says a lot to me. Jessye Norman was a very demanding artist with all her requirements, but she loved Levine as well.


----------



## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

jflatter said:


> I also think that the Met board may not possibly want someone to be in post as long as Levine and want a shorter term appointment. Someone like Bychkov could then fit the bill.


Marin Alsop will get the gig to make the Met relevant. But as a Brit, for young blood, Edward Gardner is great choice.


----------



## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

With Nicola Luisotti now quitting San Francisco, are we to assume he's now favourite to get the Met job?


----------



## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

That does not strike me as that likely.

He's only conducted three operas at the Met, all Puccini. Each for only one run. He did conduct two Live in HD broadcasts (that have been since released on DVD), a _La Bohème_ and the 100th anniversary run of _La Fanciulla del West_ in 2010-11, but he has not been back since then.

He has seemed fine the couple times I've seen him, but I would be disappointed if the Met picked such a specialist as their music director.

I am certainly not an Italian specialist, and most of the operas I have seen at SFO were not conducted by him. I'll have to pay close attention to him in _Don Carlo_ this summer, and whatever I see of _Andrea Chénier_, _Aida_, and _Rigoletto_ for his final season.


----------



## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I've seen him conduct at Covent Garden a few times. He is excellent conducting Puccini and Verdi. A brilliant Madame Butterfly and Turandot spring to mind. He did also conduct a very good Don Giovanni and I can't say that of many people who I've heard conduct that work.


----------



## Notorious JWB (May 6, 2016)

Not sure what Nezet-Sequin's track record is in opera but as an orchestral conductor he's pretty amazing. The previous appointments speak for themselves. I caught him live just once with the Toronto Symphony a few years back when he was pressed into service as a last minute replacement for some ailing guest conductor (don't recall whom) and he delivered a stellar Shostakovich 5. Anybody else here catch that gig?


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Notorious JWB said:


> Not sure what Nezet-Sequin's track record is in opera but as an orchestral conductor he's pretty amazing. The previous appointments speak for themselves. I caught him live just once with the Toronto Symphony a few years back when he was pressed into service as a last minute replacement for some ailing guest conductor (don't recall whom) and he delivered a stellar Shostakovich 5. Anybody else here catch that gig?


Not that gig, as he's principal conductor in my home town : Rotterdam, I saw him often .


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

NotoriousJWB:
NS is not only a wonderful conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra but he is a stellar opera conductor as well. Like Levine, he knows how to be sensitive to the singers and the musicians love him.
He wouldn't have been 1st choice by Gelb had he not been tops in his field.


----------



## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Loge said:


> Marin Alsop will get the gig to make the Met relevant. But as a Brit, for young blood, Edward Gardner is great choice.


If it's Gardner, the repertoire will change. Great as Levine was - and he was excellent at Wagner, Verdi and Mozart - he had some blind spots: not too fond of French opera or bel canto. Gardner's conducted _L'Africaine_ - so dare we expect Meyerbeer at the Met?


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

SimonTemplar said:


> If it's Gardner, the repertoire will change. Great as Levine was - and he was excellent at Wagner, Verdi and Mozart - he had some blind spots: not too fond of French opera or bel canto. Gardner's conducted _L'Africaine_ - so dare we expect Meyerbeer at the Met?


Do you think the punters will like that?


----------



## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Pugg said:


> Do you think the punters will like that?


If Meyerbeer is presented as a good composer, rather than of historic interest only: yes!

Huguenots and Vasco in particular could be hits. Get a few front rank singers - Alagna sang Vasco last year, Florez is singing Raoul this year - and a straight production. (No Regie!)


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

SimonTemplar said:


> If Meyerbeer is presented as a good composer, rather than of historic interest only: yes!
> 
> Huguenots and Vasco in particular could be hits. Get a few front rank singers - Alagna sang Vasco last year, Florez is singing Raoul this year - and a straight production. (No Regie!)


I do think it's wishful thinking Simon.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Pugg said:


> I do think it's wishful thinking Simon.


Met could stage Laurent Pelly's _Robert le Diable_.










Then the lucky punters could see the highlight of the opera  the dancing bear.


----------

