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Saturday, May 01, 2004The conductor James Levine has been suffering from unexplained tremors in his left arm and leg that at times impair his ability to lead the orchestra effectively, said some musicians who play under him at the Metropolitan Opera. ...They said Mr. Levine's condition had made his leadership of the orchestra inconsistent and even at times ineffectual. These musicians said Mr. Levine could be difficult to follow because he always conducted sitting down, rarely gave easily visible cues and slumped in his chair as a performance progressed, particularly during lengthy productions like Wagner's "Ring." His posture is a barometer, some musicians said. As the night goes on, one said, "You cannot see his baton behind the podium." Another said: "He drops down, and you wonder what in the world is going on, or `what do we do now?' That's when you could use cues. And we don't have them." Another musician added: "It's been very, very difficult. The reason the orchestra even had any glory days and rose to prominence was because of Levine. So you don't want to kick a man when he's down. Yes, there's a problem; yes, something has to be done; yes, it's the big elephant in the room, but who am I to lead the charge? I owe a lot to the man. But not enough to keep from stabbing him in the New York Times, evidently. posted by Sydney on 5/01/2004 04:43:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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