James Levine, who served as maestro of the Metropolitan Opera for more than four decades before being fired after an investigation revealed a history of sexual abuse, died last week at the age of 77.
Levine’s March 9 death in Palm Springs, Calif. was due to natural causes and confirmed Wednesday morning by his physician, Dr. Len Horovitz.
Levine made his Met debut in 1971 and served as music or artistic director from 1976 to 2016, conducting more than 2,500 performances.
“No artist in the 137 year history of the Met had as profound an impact as James Levine,” general manager Peter Gelb said in a statement.
“He raised the Met’s musical standards to new and greater heights.”
He was eased out of his top position due to back problems and Parkinson’s disease, and was suspended in 2017 after The Post revealed sexual abuse accusations dating back to the 1960’s involving an Illinois teenager.
“I began seeing a 41-year-old man when I was 15, without really understanding I was really ‘seeing’ him,” the unnamed accuser said to police at the time.
“It nearly destroyed my family and almost led me to suicide. I felt alone and afraid.”
An ensuing investigation by the Met found credible evidence that he sexually abused or harassed multiple musicians over a 25-year period. Levine’s lawyers at the time claimed he was innocent of any misconduct.
Levine was suspended a day after the Post report, and never conducted again.
A planned comeback performance in Italy last year was derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The wild-haired maestro expanded the Met’s repertory, receiving acclaim for his performances of Wagner, Verdi and Berg, and his close association with Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and Birgit Nilsson.
He won 10 Grammy Awards, and was nominated for 37, and was regarded as the top American conductor after Leonard Bernstien passed away in 1990.
In addition to his top post at Lincoln Center, Levine served as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Ravinia Festival from 1973-93, the Munich Philharmonic from 1999-2004 and the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 2004-11.
He was a regular with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic, and was applauded by singers for forcing his orchestras to accommodate them.
“Confidence is a tremendous part of an artist’s performance, especially singers, because a singer cannot evaluate what’s happening,” he told The Associated Press in 1996.
“It’s in her body. It’s not out here where the piano keys are, or where the cello is. To me, singers are heroic in that respect.”
The Cincinnati native was the grandson of a cantor and the child of a bandleader and Broadway actress.
He started taking piano lessons at age 4, and made his professional debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra just 6 years later. Levine is survived by his wife Suzanne Thomson, and his sister Janet.
With AP wires