Maestro James Levine continued his (unfortunate, and surely painful) recent pattern of canceling an average of one performance a week last night when he dropped out of the Boston’s Symphony’s performance of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony.
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La Cieca (pictured) is going to go out on a limb here, cher public, based on bits and pieces of gossip, a hard fact or two, and her own occasionally flawed powers of ratiocination. Her prediction: James Levine will retire as Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera, effective at the end of the 2011-2012 season.…
BREAKING! In a sudden and shocking turn of events, James Levine will go on as scheduled tonight, conducting Simon Boccanegra at the Met. However, according to an email from the Carnegie Hall press office, the maestro “and The MET Chamber Ensemble must regrettably cancel their concert scheduled for this Sunday, January 30 at 5:00 p.m.…
“Pre-performance applause often signals gratitude for past glories. In this case, it was only a preview of the stomping and cheering following that night’s performance of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra — well-deserved acclaim for a masterpiece of conducting.” So says Our Own JJ in the New York Post.
The bestowal of a bouquet of accolades upon James Levine is unsurprisingly the main thrust of the current Opera News (why, after all, should this month be different from any other in the rag’s 75 year history?) and given the plum of penning this poetical posy is the horticulturally apt writer Scott Rose, “author of…
“At some point, Met officialdom will have to recognize the continuing failures of the current arrangement, under which the titular artistic director of the company, James Levine, makes sure that he gets the singers he wants for his own performances and seems content to leave Mr. Friend to improvise the remainder of the season.” How…
Even as La Cieca tippy-taps these words, the 30-hour Boston–New York–Boston marathon has begun for the maestro about whom the following was written less than two weeks ago: Still, the state of Mr. Levine’s health and music making were major concerns going into this evening. When he took his bow during the curtain calls he…
La Cieca’s spy tells her that Maestro Levine returned to the Met today for a coaching session with the cast of Das Rheingold.
In celebration of James Levine‘s 40th anniversary at the Met, the company is releasing two massive collections of previously (mostly) unavailable material conducted by the maestro. Highlights include video performances of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride (Teresa Stratas, Nicolai Gedda, Jon Vickers, Martti Talvela), and Der Rosenkavalier (Kiri Te Kanawa, Tatiana Troyanos, Judith Blegen, Luciano Pavarotti,…
So, if you wondering when the spit is going to hit the fan (to quote another great ’50s teen angst opus), well, the date you’re looking for is October 9, 2010. Why is that date so special or unusual, you ask? Well, for the currently ailing James Levine, it’s the day he’s supposed to be in…
“James Levine has served the Boston Symphony Orchestra honorably, and deserves to continue as music director if his health bounces back quickly. If he’s not able to return to full strength in a reasonable time, he should resign and allow the orchestra to search openly for a replacement.” [Boston Globe]
A member of the cher public reminds La Cieca, “How soon do we start wondering who will conduct the new Rheingold at the Met? I thought I would see Jimmy at Tanglewood next week for the Mahler 2nd, but Mikey Twinkle-Toes will be in charge that evening.” La Cieca’s answer: it’s never too soon to…
The good news is that the Met reduced its operating deficit for 2008-2009 to $1.3 million, down from $12.2 million a year earlier. The bad news is the company’s assets fell by $72.6 million (down to $422.7 million) primarily because of investment losses. In other news, the Met paid James Levine a bit more than…
Now that the exciting and welcome news about Fabio Luisi‘s new position as Principal Guest Conductor has had a chance to settle a bit, La Cieca would like to quote an old, old, old friend and suggest that “our retrospection shall be all to the future.” Let’s slip into our Zukunftsbrillen after the jump, shall…
It’s official: James Levine has withdrawn from Cincinnati Opera‘s 90th Anniversary Gala Concert (June 19) and the season-opening production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (June 23 & 26). John Keenan takes up the Wagner duties and a roster of guest conductors fill in at the gala.
Diana Damrau joined James Levine and the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on Sunday afternoon for one of Levine’s typically overloaded – er, generous – orchestral feasts. But this deeply involving marathon of German warhorses rewarded those who would submit to its somber, festive intensity.
“I will have more to say on this question later.” So, three weeks ago, Anthony Tommasini left open the subject of how “[n]one of the versions of [Les Contes d’Hoffmann] that have appeared over the years, some of them corrupted, can be said to be authentic.” The Times scribe has at last broken his silence, though…
Tonight’s Hoffmann at the Met is conducted by John Keenan, but it’s not a(nother) James Levine cancellation. Of the nine performances of the Offenbach opera this season, Maestro Jimmy was always scheduled to do only six; the other were “TBA” until the season began. With his cancellation of of the December 16 performance, of course,…
James Levine was too ill Wednesday night to conduct Les Contes d’Hoffmann, sending on John Keenan in his place. That same night PBS telecast a performance of Tosca taped earlier this fall which Joseph Colaneri had to take over for the injured Levine.
What no one dares talk about in New York — at least not yet: …the medical leave will add to the debate about whether Levine is in fact overextended in his two jobs leading both the BSO and the Metropolitan Opera …. Levine’s current contract at the Met ends in 2011 and one presumes he’ll…
UPDATE: A press release from the Met adds that James Levine has withdrawn from performances of Der Rosenkavalier as well as Tosca. Joseph Colaneri, who was already scheduled to conduct Tosca on October 3, 14, and 17, will take over Levine’s performances of the Puccini opera on October 6 and 10 matinee. (He already filled…
La Cieca is idly wondering how James Levine‘s back is feeling this morning, after yesterday’s flareup that left him unable to conduct Tosca at the Met last night. Rather an important question, too, since he’s scheduled for that high-profile Stravinsky-Mozart concert with the Boston Symphony tonight. In the absence of any hard evidence, your doyenne…
So, was anyone at Saturday night’s performance by the Boston Symphony? How’s James Levine doing with that back problem? And doesn’t it seem that a maestro who has had a history of delicate health should maybe at this point decide whether he wants BSO or the Met — particularly when both these organizations have elaborate…
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