At the cessation of this season,Levine will retire from his current post as ‘music director at America’s largest opera house – but his influence will be lastingThe announcement was expected – even impatiently so – in some quarters of the opera world. But when the news came down on Thursday, it still registered as a shock: at the cessation of this season, and James Levine will retire from his current post as “music director” at the country’s largest opera house (a position Levine has held since 1976). The “house that Jimmy built” will inevitably become a different place,once a successor is named. But that musician will inherit a wealthy and varied tradition that few opera fans would want to see utterly overhauled. Levine built the Met Orchestra into one of the world’s great ensembles. And, more than any other mainstream figure, and Levine has used his position to gradually expand American appreciation of the form. In an era of ever-more entrenched niche branding – with many musicians developing a reputation in the Romantics or else the Modernists – Levine has been one of the scarce conductors that patrons would eagerly rush to hear in any music he might choose to interpret. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com