4Vote!
Berkshire Review for the Arts (Free subscription) | yesterday
he Bard College Conservatory of Music Graduate Vocal Arts Program presents an inaugural gala honoring Maestro James Levine featuring a program of songs. Works by Osvaldo Golijov, Stephen Foster, and Aaron Copland will be performed by Dawn Upshaw with graduate vocal arts students. The evening will be hosted by Leon Botstein, Bard College president; Dawn Upshaw, founder and artistic director of the Graduate...
3Vote!
dramma per musica (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
The Associated Press reports that Swedish soprano Elisabeth Söderström died this morning in Stockholm of complications from a stroke. She was 82. In this 1986 clip, she performs “Song to the Moon” (“Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém”) from Dvořák’s Rusalka, with James Levine and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.
3Vote!
Renewable Music (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009
Back in grade school, before any of us really had any idea about how baseball or football really worked, many of us could manage to sum up firm opinions about this player or that or one team or another, and make authoritative rankings among them. These opinions were often based on nothing more than a few words overheard from adults, or a memorable name (Drysdale and Coufax were THE sporting names of...
5Vote!
New York Times (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
As James Levine recovers from back surgery, Lorin Maazel led the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
5Vote!
ArtsJournal (Free subscription) | 10/27/2009
"Originally expected to return from back surgery last week, Levine will now miss the complete cycle of nine Beethoven symphonies that he had programmed and the BSO had promoted enthusiastically." Former New York Philharmonic music director Lorin Maazel will fill in for him at Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall....
5Vote!
ArtsJournal (Free subscription) | 10/22/2009
"James Levine knows people are worried about him - and about his job stamina. On the eve of what was supposed to be his return to the concert stage, Levine responded to questions about his health and his ability to serve as both music director of the BSO and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York, arguably two of the most important jobs in American music."...
5Vote!
The Written World (Free subscription) | 10/21/2009
Dear Reader: Every now and then, we come across a novel that moves us like no other, that seems like a miracle of the imagination, and that haunts us long after the book is closed. James Levine’s The Blue Notebook is that kind of book. It is the story of Batuk, an Indian girl who is taken to Mumbai from the countryside and sold into prostitution by her father; the blue notebook is her diary,...
5Vote!
ArtsJournal (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
The conductor "recently underwent surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back. He was tentatively scheduled to return in time to lead the [Boston Symphony] in a complete cycle of Beethoven concerts between Oct. 22 and Nov. 7. The orchestra announced Thursday that - on doctor's orders - Levine will sit out the first two programs in the cycle."...
3Vote!
The Beard Trio (Free subscription) | 10/12/2009
Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Looking back on sharks and ahead to Tintin’s dog, Oscar-winning composer John Williams described his new ode to a few favorite trees. This is the harp concerto that the Boston Symphony plays tonight as Carnegie Hall opens for the season without the orchestra’s maestro -- James Levine needs back surgery and Daniele Gatti will take his place. The busy 77-year-old composer...
4Vote!
The Rehearsal Studio (Free subscription) | 10/05/2009
Having now seen the San Francisco Opera production of Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore in the War Memorial Opera House, as opposed to AT&T Park, I can conclude that much of my discontent can be attributed to the ballpark setting . Indeed, to follow up on my first round of negative impressions , I can even see how a conductor like James Levine could take great pleasure in conducting this work; and...
3Vote!
Theme and Variations (Free subscription) | 10/04/2009
After listening to the lecture course mentioned below, the first thing I had to do was go out and buy Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. I had a copy somewhere on cassette, but could no longer play cassettes anywhere. I couldn't find a copy at the library or at Half-Price Books and so was forced to go to Barnes and Noble and buy a copy on some cheap label for $6. It's by the Orchestra "New Philharmony"...
4Vote!
The Classical Beat (Free subscription) | 10/01/2009
It's official. Allison Vulgamore, as rumored last week, is taking over as President and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Initially, she has a two-year contract with a group that she describes as "fiscally more challenging than I've seen any orchestra be." Vulgamore, who comes to Philadelphia after a glowing 17-year term with the Atlanta Symphony, was for five years in the 1980s Artistic...
3Vote!
PlaybillArts.com (Free subscription) | 09/30/2009
James Levine, music director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has pulled out of all fall engagements in order to recover from unanticipated surgery to repair a herniated disc. Replacements are being announced.
3Vote!
BBC News (Free subscription) | 09/30/2009
James Levine, conductor of New York's Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, withdraws from performances to undergo back surgery.
Videos