His performances brought immense joy to countless thousands of music lovers and should continue to do so. Whatever his private failings, and they certainly were many, the fact remains that he was a pivotal force at the Met over the past 40 years and contributed immensely to the artistic growth of the company. But once it became public knowledge, the Met management suddenly was suddenly shocked! SHOCKED!! to learn that that their star conductor and music director of the past 40 years was a pedophile predator. The real fact is that the Met conveniently ignored and swept under the carpet the unseemly details of Levine’s private life while he was making money – and great music – for them and for New York music lovers. Of course, this is just hypocrisy of the the most opportunistic and nauseating type. As far back as the 1970s, when I was just an ordinary music student in NYC, I heard many stories about Levine from friends who worked at the Met, so it is impossible for me to believe me that nobody in any position of power had any idea of his history. Levine was surely a predator, but everyone who has had even the slightest connection with the music business in New York has known about this for many years. Levine is out of the Met once and for all. Yes, history will be the ultimate arbiter, and it is already being written. I would gladly take conductors such as Leinsdorf, Karajan, Schippers, Stiedry, Mackerras, Cleva, Rudel,etc. He was a mediocre, routine conductor with no particular artistic insight or vision.Īs for Sirius XM Radio, there are many broadcasts they can play that don’t have Levine as conductor. Gelb inherited the Levine mess and he did the best he could given the situation.

His repugnant behavior has landed him where he is now, even if it took decades to do so. He was a sexual predator and harasser for decades. They did air a Siegfried broadcast and one other opera led by Levine that I can’t recall but these seemed to be overlooked by Sirius it seems.Īt any rate I think the blame for all of this mess lays squarely at Levine’s feet.

This is development is not new, Sirius XM Radio has not played hardly any Levine led broadcasts since December 2017.

Sirius met opera schedule