“The Metropolitan Opera fired the conductor James Levine on Monday evening, ending its association with a man who defined the company for more than four decades after an investigation found what the Met called credible evidence that Mr. Levine had engaged in ‘sexually abusive and harassing conduct,’ ” writes Michael Cooper in Monday’s (3/12) New York Times. “The investigation, which the Met opened in December … found evidence of abuse and harassment ‘both before and during the period’ when Mr. Levine worked at the Met, the company said in a statement…. The Met did not release the specific findings of its investigation, which it said had included interviews with 70 people. But the statement said that the investigation had ‘uncovered credible evidence that Mr. Levine engaged in sexually abusive and harassing conduct toward vulnerable artists in the early stages of their careers, over whom Mr. Levine had authority…. In light of these findings … it would be inappropriate and impossible for Mr. Levine to continue to work at the Met.’ A spokesman for Mr. Levine said that he did not have an immediate comment…. The accusations against Mr. Levine … went back decades, and shared marked similarities.”
Posted March 13, 2018
Pictured: James Levine in the pit at a Metropolitan Opera rehearsal in 2009. Photo by Sara Krulwich / New York Times
