Conductor James Levine (Photo by Koichi Miural)
(Mar. 3, 2011) - In a sad end to a difficult time, the Boston Symphony Orchestra announced yesterday that James Levine was resigning as music director after a cascade of medical problems, including sciatica and a hand tremor, that have caused numerous Boston cancellations.
The Symphony's managing director, Mark Volpe, told the New York Times in an interview published yesterday that he and Levine began to speak of an "evolving artistic role" last November, in the middle of his seventh season as the BSO's music director.
In the same piece, Levine asserted that his changing role in Boston augurs nothing for his relationship with the Metropolitan Opera, where he became principal conductor in 1973 and where he has been music director since 1976. Met opera general manager Peter Gelb reiterated that sentiment in an interview to WQXR radio yesterday saying, "There is no change in his status at the Met."
The BSO's press announcement quoted Levine as saying, "Given the challenges regarding my health and the ensuing absences they have forced me to take from my work with the BSO, I believe it is best for everyone, but especially the orchestra and our wonderful audiences, for me to step down as music director."
Just hours earlier, the BSO announced that due to complications from a recent back operation and a viral infection, Levine was forced to cancel all of his performances with the orchestra for the remainder of this season, including at Boston's Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center--meaning that audiences have already heard his last concert as Boston's music director.
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by Anastasia Tsioulcas
