The Metropolitan Opera Guild welcomed James Levine back to his Metropolitan Opera post during a lunch held at the Waldorf-Astoria on November 11. Metropolitan Opera patrons and several generations of Met singers gathered to say "Welcome home, Jimmy!" at this special event.
Chrstine Goerke, Eric Owens and Thomas Hampson sang arias. The New York Times reported that Sherrill Milnes, Renata Scotto and James Morris recognized Levine's immense contribution to the Met in remarks they made to the Opera Guild guests.
"For the last two years, there's been a hole at the Met," Morris said. "And thank God it's been filled again."
Levine himself called his return to the Met a "rebirth," and said "Now, to be back in the saddle, so to speak - that is, back on the podium, outfitted by the Met's brilliant technical team to meet my current physical needs - has been exciting beyond words."
Levine suffered a spinal cord injury two years ago that required surgery and a lengthy period of rehabilitation. His triumphant return to lead the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra occurred at a Carnegie Hall concert last spring. Levine led the orchestra in Wagner's "Lohengrin" Prelude, Schubert's "Great" C-major Symphony, and Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto with Evgeny Kissin as soloist.
A recording of this concert, JAMES LEVINE: Live at Carnegie Hall, has recently been released by Deutsche Grammophon. David Weininger of the Boston Globe said: "No doubt even some concertgoers didn't fully believe Levine was back until he rolled onto the Carnegie Hall stage in a motorized wheelchair on May 19 and proceeded to lead a program that left no doubt that his powers were undimmed. Deutsche Grammophon's lovely, spacious recording of the concert, with the MET Orchestra in brilliant form, captures the electricity of that very special concert."
Levine walks with difficulty and uses a wheelchair for getting to and from the podium. His return has been aided by technicians who installed a series of lifts and ramps in the Metropolitan orchestra pit, leading up to a rising mechanical podium called the "maestro lift."
Levine, who has conducted Met performances for more than 40 years, recently led his 2,444th performance.
