| re: James Levine passed away over a week ago | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 12:48 pm EDT 03/17/21 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 12:39 pm EDT 03/17/21 | |
| In reply to: James Levine passed away over a week ago - ryhog 10:33 am EDT 03/17/21 | |
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| No real outpouring of grief so far for someone who loomed so large in his field and in NY life for years and years. Rumors of his malfeasance were talked about for years. He certainly got the orchestra in tip-top shape. He also kept out some other really great conductors over the years; friends at the Met told me he was rather on pins and needles backstage and during rehearsals when the great Carlos Kleiber conducted years ago. Levine, while being an excellent conductor, pretty much hogged a big percentage of the conducting duties, premieres, new productions, etc. and by having mostly lesser, non-name conductors on the staff, looked better by comparison. A few of the Met ushers were quite opinionated about him: "Oh, when he conducts, it's going to be loud and slow". Perhaps a bit simplistic in its criticism, but kind of true, especially in Wagner. The orchestra did sound great though. It's really hard to temper my appreciation for his mastery of so many different operas and his accomplishments with what was going on, not only with the sexual accusations, but also with his political stuff in running the place. For instance, he apparently used to make promises of the same role to different people, and let someone else take the blame for one person finally getting it. He let his friend Kathleen Battle basically terrorize the place, until General Manager Joe Volpe was then in charge and had enough of her finally to fire her when she insulted in front of the company his good friend Rosalind Elias. It's going to be interesting now to hear more stories coming out shortly about stuff behind the scenes, especially from retired singers. There was plenty of stuff being said while he was still conducting there. Even Liz Smith, the gossip columnist years ago, without naming him, but very clear about who she was referring to, in print, mentioned that the board of Lincoln Center was getting sick and tired of bailing out with a lot of money one of their top people for being arrested and other offenses. This was in the '80s! Why the powers that be didn't do something then to rectify the situation is rather shameful. I hope the Met comes back stronger than ever, but it's going to be a really big challenge. |
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| Previous: | re: Perhaps the family/estate can donate that $3.5 million payout back to the Met to compensate the Orchestra and Chorus who haven't been paid in a year - Singapore/Fling 03:08 pm EDT 03/17/21 |
| Next: | re: James Levine passed away over a week ago - Michael_Portantiere 03:02 pm EDT 03/17/21 |
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