James Levine – born June 23, 1943 in Cincinnati, Ohio – was a world-renowned
conductor and pianist best-known as the first musical director of the New York
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, where he served for forty years. He is also
regarded as one of the great opera performers of his generation. James Levine
proved to be a precocious pianist and performed his first concert with the
city's Symphony Orchestra at the age of 10. A pupil of Rudolf Serkin and Rosina
Lhévinne, he began studying at the Juilliard School in New York in 1961, where
he learned conducting from Jean Morel. Short...