Hella Geoff Edgers story on the Globe's front page today says that the Boston Symphony Orchestra might "sever ties" with conductor James Levine. Wow. During his six-year tenure, Levine's recurrent and serious health problems have knocked him off the podium time and again, and led to much grumbling, most of it off the record, about his insistence on splitting his time between the BSO and the Metropolitan Opera. Audience members have expressed disappointment about missed concerts. But I was shocked to see both BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe and a couple of the orchestra members openly call into question Levine's future with the BSO.
Make no mistake, this is an absolutely dramatic change; up till now the brilliant conductor has been the most carefully protected public personage in Boston, bar none. There are no mandatory post-game press conferences at Symphony Hall, and Levine's sensibilities are always uppermost in arranging his infrequent press events. No question, too, he has made a tremendous change in the orchestra, despite legitimate disagreements about the ultimate artistic results.
To see Volpe publicly revealing the very-well-paid Levine's failure to sign papers extending his contract through 2012...well, this is at the very least the BSO sending Levine a dramatic message. And it makes clear that there's a communication problem between Levine and the BSO in addition to the health issue. Despite all the qualifiers, the fact that the situation has become so public suggests that Levine may already be a goner. Wow.
Comments