The indisposition of James Levine is causing all manner of problems in the music world as the Met scrambles to plug the hole. They have the exceptional Fabio Luisi as their principal guest conductor (on September they dropped the guest bit) - but he, poor man, is being pulled this way and that and now the lawyers may be getting into the act. The Met has a tendency to give them work!
It is a thoroughly unscrupulous world at this level - not my scene any more I am glad to say. I had my share of battles in the past with dishonest artists managers and less than straightforward colleagues. I am glad to be out of it. I always took the view that a contract was a contract, and while you could ask for an artist to be released you had to accept it of the answer was no. This is no longer the case it seems. The arrogance of the bullying classes knows no bounds!
I see that Fabio Luisi is due in Chicago with his splendid orchestra, the Vienna Symphony, at the Harris Theater on November 7. I hope he shows up. But if not never mind - nobody is going to keep Beethoven and Brahms away, not even the management of the Metropolitan Opera.
PS to above from the New York Times this morning (Wednesday) :
It seems like nobody says "no" to the Met. I think it has been made public much too soon, without dealing first with all the complication it would cause. From what you can learn from the news about it, the whole situation seems unprofessional. Be it his management, be it himself (which I would not be willing to believe), it's not all how it should be.
As I read the news about Levine's withdrawal I knew Luisi would be their first choice, but would not ever suppose this would cause him dropping his engagements in Rome, Vienna etc.
Posted by: Tomasz Biernacki | September 21, 2011 at 01:23 PM