Who Is James Levine? Metropolitan Opera To Investigate New York City Conductor

The Metropolitan Opera on Saturday said they would open an investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) conductor James Levine.

Levine, who once led the BSO, has been accused of molesting Illinois teenager decades ago.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Levin made his concert debut as soloist in Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 2 at youth concert of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra when he was just 10 years old. He rose to music director at the Metropolitan Opera in 1976 and held the position until April 2016.

Levine has been nominated for 37 Grammy awards and has bagged 10 of them. He was honored by the Kennedy Center in 2002, alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Simon, James Earl Jones, and Chita Rivera.

PeterGelb, General Manager of the Met Opera said that he was aware of the allegations when the victim came forward and lodged a complaint with the Illinois police in October 2016, the Boston Globe reported.

Speaking of the incident, Gelb said: “At the time, Mr. Levine said that the charges were completely false, and we relied upon the further investigation of the police. We need to determine if these charges are true and, if they are, take appropriate action. We’ll now be conducting our own investigation with outside resources.”

Gelb’s statement came hours after New York Post published a report detailing the allegations against the American conductor.

The report, citing police records, stated that Levine molested a teenager from the time he was 15 years old until the teen was pushed to the brink of suicide.

According to the report, the alleged victim filed a molestation complaint at the Lake Forest police department. In his complaint, the victim also detailed how Levine masturbated in front of him and kissed his penis.

The report also stated that the Met Opera members knew about Levine’s behavior, yet they did not take any action against him.

“I began seeing a 41-year-old man when I was 15, without really understanding I was really ‘seeing’ him. It nearly destroyed my family and almost led me to suicide. I felt alone and afraid. He was trying to seduce me. I couldn’t see this. Now I can,” the alleged victim, now 48, said in a written statement to the police department.

The Opera on Saturday posted a tweet stating: “We are deeply disturbed by the news articles that are being published online today about James Levine. We are working on an investigation w outside resources to determine whether charges of sexual misconduct in the 1980s are true so that we can take appropriate action.”