Last week, the Metropolitan Opera announced that the Canadian conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin would become the company's music director, following James Levine who recently retired. Mr. Levine becomes Music Director Emeritus, as empty a title as they come, after a tacky public struggle between his forty year tenure and the Met management, anxious over Levine's declining health.
James Levine was twenty-nine years old when he became the Met's musical boss back in the '70s. He was Cincinnati born, Cleveland trained with George Szell, and was a musical star at the age of ten. Levine has never not been famous in music. In recent years, a back injury and worsening Parkinson's disease have kept him unable to walk, and very recently it is reported he is losing the coordination needed to conduct. Tragic for all aspects of his life. Tragic for music, since his abilities were incredible. It seems he didn't want to leave; it seems he had to.
Nezet-Seguin, 40, is already the Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, a post occupied by Stokowski, Ormandy, Muti and Sawallisch. He has conducted internationally since he was a kid. Maybe its a dig at Levine that Nezet-Seguin is christened 'openly gay' by the press and his shirtless pics on Facebook are noted gleefully. Listen, nobody is that hunky. The Met needs Yannick a lot more than Yannick needs the Met.
The Met's declining box office, financial travails and unpopular General Manager make the company more of a quagmire than ever. Nezet-Seguin is known for great musical talent and a dramatic flair. The Met is lucky to have him. Whether he can put up with sharing artistic authority, or whether his appointment means another power shift at Lincoln Center remains to be seen. Lately, the news from our premiere opera company has been negative, then dull, then more negative. That will change, at least for now.
