Please. He was the BY FAR greatest conductor of our lifetimes. Some of us have been privileged, and I mean privileged, to attend his performances.
ML/NJ
Yeah and some people were privileged and I mean privileged to be raped by him. Not impressed. And I’ve seen many of his performances. I’ve worked with him. He was a vile human being.
I wouldn’t say that. Perhaps he was the greatest American conductor of our times, but I wouldn’t put him at the top worldwide over greats like Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Herbert von Karajan, etc. Even the new guy at the Met Nezet-Seguin is at least Levine’s equal from what I’ve heard from him so far. But, yes, Levine was very talented and did wonders with the Met orchestra. That doesn’t excuse his grooming and “casting couching” teenage boys.
I was always a little uneasy attending his performances because I heard “the rumors” about him almost as soon as I first learned who he was. I had hoped that he wouldn’t be kept in such a prominent position if the rumors were true. I believe in separating art from artists, esp. when there are numerous artists involved in a work, so I won’t be trashing any of his recordings I have, but he should have been punished for what he did many decades ago.