“Met Legends: James Levine” is at Alice Tully Hall on Sep 15
Maestro
James Levine, Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony
Orchestra, is the subject of the Metropolitan Opera Guild’sfirst
public event of the new season. “Met
Legends: James Levine” takes place
at New York’s Alice Tully Hall on
Tuesday, September 15 at 7:30
pm. The “Maestro of the Met”
himself will be the guest of honor, on stage with the Guild’s Paul Gruber to
watch rare video clips and to discuss his life and unrivaled career. Exclusive video footage will be shown,
including a new video biography of the Maestro that incorporates rare footage
of the young James Levine with his family.
Since
his Met debut, conducting Puccini’s Tosca in 1971, Maestro Levine has been the Metropolitan Opera’s indefatigable
artistic mainstay – not only introducing scores of new singers, directors,
designers, composers, and repertoire to the Met audience, but developing the
Met orchestra into one of the foremost ensembles in the world. As a conductor, he inaugurated the
“Live from the Met” telecasts on PBS, while building on the rich tradition of
New York City’s foremost performing arts institution. In his nearly four decades with the Met, James Levine has
conducted close to 2,400 performances, including many on tours of the U.S. and
abroad, besides Met Orchestra appearances at nearby Carnegie Hall –
considerably more than any other conductor in the company’s 125-year
history. An impressive circle of
artists who have played important roles in Maestro Levine’s musical life will
be on hand for “Met Legends: James Levine,” including Judith Blegen, Raymond Gniewek, Lynn Harrell, Marilyn Horne, Cornell
MacNeil, Karita Mattila, James Morris, Itzhak Perlman, Roberta Peters, Renata
Scotto, Dawn Upshaw, and Dolora Zajick (list in formation). The earlier “Met Legend” events have
been extraordinary and unforgettable evenings with Marilyn Horne and with
Teresa Stratas.
This
is the first of four special, star-studded public events presented by the
Metropolitan Opera Guild this season, as an important part of its annual
schedule of programs that both celebrate the art form and provide substantial
financial support for the organization’s groundbreaking opera education
programs.
The
Guild’s Paul Gruber, producer of
this and many other Guild events, has assembled the film clips, audio and video
excerpts, photographs, questions to ask Maestro Levine in the onstage
interview, and everything else that the audience will see and hear on September
15 at Alice Tully Hall. He
comments: “It’s an enormous honor for the Guild to be able to celebrate the
Maestro in this fashion. If ever
there was a living Met Legend, it is James Levine!”
A few seats to the Pre-Performance Dinner with the
Artists’ Circle (the list of distinguished attendees is still growing) are still
available for $600. This includes
dinner, premium seating for the performance, and the reception. Program-only tickets are $75 each
(Guild member price $45). Special
tickets at $150 each include the artist’s reception after the event. Call (212) 769-7009, or buy tickets
online at www.metguild.org.
Tuesday, September 15 at 7:30 pm
The Metropolitan Opera Guild
Presents:
Met
Legends: JAMES LEVINE
Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center
in New York City
Maestro Levine’s many achievements at the Met include
conducting the world premieres of The Ghosts of Versailles and The Great Gatsby as well as Met premieres of such
operas as Idomeneo
and La Clemenza di Tito, Porgy and Bess, I Lombardi, Stiffelio,
Benvenuto Cellini,
and Moses und Aron. He and the Met Orchestra made many
recordings for Deutsche Grammophon and Sony Classical – the first regular
series of recordings for the company in many years.
Program tickets:
$45 for Guild members and Met patrons
$75 for others
$150 (members and nonmembers) for priority seating followed
by artist’s reception with champagne and dessert
A few seats to the Pre-Performance Dinner with the Artists’
Circle are still available for $600, which includes the dinner, premium seating
for the performance, and the reception.
For more information and to order tickets by phone, call
(212) 769-7009.
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© 21C Media Group, July 2009