After 40 years as serving as maestro of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, 72-year-old conductor James Levine is stepping down. The late Bob Simon of 60 Minutes described Levine like this: “If you could see music as well as hear it, you would see it in the face of James Levine.” Simon interviewed Levine in 2015, when he returned to the Met after a car accident had left Levine in a wheelchair.
Levine will be succeeded by the 41-year-old French-Canadian musical director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The New York Times writes: “The energetic, media-savvy Mr. Nézet-Séguin is meant as a shot in the arm for an organization struggling at the box office and whose musical leadership has been in flux.” The Philadelphia Daily News, very familiar with Nézet-Séguin’s work, predicts the new maestro will bring “freshness” and “new thinking.” 60 Minutes will reair part of Simon’s iinterview with Levine on Sunday, June 5 at 7pm on CBS.
