Some are expressing surprise that the Met hasn’t put anything on its site. I wonder that such naivety is still possible in 2021.
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Some are expressing surprise that the Met hasn’t put anything on its site. I wonder that such naivety is still possible in 2021. -
"I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square."
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I'm sad that he has passed on, and before I was aware of problems relating to him - only a few years ago - I thought he was a pretty good conductor and musician, which he probably was.
That is not to say that I condone the non musical activities he was pursuing. Those should have been addressed long ago. He clearly damaged quite a few people, and I'm sad for them too.
The Met seems to have been content to let things go for far too long, and indeed the update on the Met web site does not give the feeling that much has changed.
JL RIPComment
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Opinions about Levine tend to be divided, depending on which side of the Atlantic you live. He was undoubtedly highly competent, knew his job as thoroughly as anyone, and gave reliable performances for Met audiences. But I never heard him conduct anything that made me re-think a piece, or even particularly excite me. I saw him a couple of times. The last was Berlioz's Faust with the BSO and a well past his sell-by-date Jose Van Dam at the Proms. It was a solid, well-played performance.Comment
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Well, they had to say something about his musical achievements as some kind of lame excuse for not having dealt with him many years before they did. The first I heard about his monstrous behaviour was in the 1980s, from someone fairly high up at Radio 3, and yet the Met didn't sack him until 2018, which is a major scandal as we've said here before.Originally posted by LHC View PostComment
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I would say as a member of the human race he was deficient. As a conductor he made several excellent recordings.Comment
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Reading comments from Americans, it seems quite a few people over there are prepared to overlook his ‘extra-curricular’ activities and focus instead on his ‘lifetime’s work’ of improving the Met orchestra.
A couple of recordings aside, I was never convinced by his interpretations of Wagner, which struck me as ponderous and slow for the sake of being slow.
The Met’s policy since 2018 seems to have been to carry on as if Levine never happened - which is astonishing when you consider how long he was there for, but hardly surprising since Gelb and the board almost certainly knew what was going on yet chose to ignore it. Clearly an organisation without a moral compass, given that they are still not paying their orchestra.Comment
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Some very good ones indeed. My 2 favorites were with the CSO-his Mendelssohn MSND with Some Schubert Rosamunde extracts, and his Mahler 3, the recording that really made me embrace the work. Not to excuse any of his bad doings, but his Artistry can’t be ignored when discussing his legacyOriginally posted by cloughie View PostComment
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That was more than 30 years before I became aware!Originally posted by Richard Barrett View Post
Some of his recordings were really good, including a Mahler 1, a Brahms 1, and I think also some Schumann symphonies. Such a shame about the other business.Comment
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I notice the title of this thread has been changed, and not by me.
A moot question, perhaps, but would we extend the same courtesy to, say, Jimmy Savile?Comment
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I'm not sure that currently we can divide the two as the link is far too strong. As an alleged sexual predator clearly he would have used his elevated position in the music world as the hook for his grooming.Originally posted by cloughie View PostLast edited by Stanfordian; 18-03-21, 09:21.Comment
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Well that was fairly frank, Pulc.Originally posted by Pulcinella View Post
On his recordings one I particularly liked has not been on CD, at least not internationally, his Petrouchka with CSO in the 70s on RCA.
His Mahler is good also. 1 & 4 on LP were if I recall correctly issued on mid price and well received.
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Being an impecunious youth at the time, I bought them at half price on RCA Red Seal (a six month offer, I think) and thoroughly enjoyed them. The LSO’s playing in 1 was just as impressive as for the then also highly regarded Solti. The inexpensive Sony box of his partial Mahler traversal is well worth hearing IMO.Originally posted by cloughie View PostComment
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I think its a fair and well written summation of his career and downfall. I was certainly aware of the rumours about his behaviour (and the suggestions that he had been arrested in London and was forced to return to NY as a result) in the early 80s.Originally posted by cloughie View Post
I saw him conduct a Mahler 3 at the RFH with Christa Ludwig as the soloist in the 80s, and also saw some of his performances at the Met, where he was, I thought, unhealthily idolised by the NY audience. The Times Obit very closely matches my own feelings about him, both as a conductor and as a person."I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square."
Lady Bracknell The importance of Being EarnestComment
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