Around the Music Festival

The Metropolitan Opera in New York fired James Levine, conductor and honorary music director, on March 12, and announced a statement to break the relationship. A suspicion of sexual harassment was emerging in Levine.

The New York Times reported on December 2, 2017 that men in their 40s had charged Levine with sexual abuse to the Illinois State Police in 2016. He was sexually abused for several years since 1985 when he was fifteen, and the New York Times reported that he was suffering enough to consider suicide. In response to this, The Metropolitan Opera had not seen the appearance of Levine last December. In addition, the move to match the appearance was also spreading at Verbier Music Festival and others.

After that, another sexual harassment allegedly emerged in the 1960s and 1980s against three young people. The Metropolitan Opera was investigating a former federal prosecutor Robert J. Cleary (he was previously in charge of the Unabomber case). In a statement on the 12th, “evidence to the belief” was found about multiple allegations during the tenure as music director.

Levine was born in Cincinnati, USA in 1943. In 1970 he debuted conductor as guest conductor of Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1971 he was a great success with directing the performance of The Metropolitan Opera, he became a music director in 1975, and as art director in 1986. Since then, I have continued music director for about 40 years. After retiring as Parkinson’s disease at the end of the 2015/16 season, he continued conducting as an honorary music director.


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