James Levine
Return music to center of opera, panelists say
By Richard Dyer [Boston Globe, 20 Mar 05]
CAMBRIDGE — James Levine doesn’t like pushy producers and stage directors any more than most opera lovers do.
In a panel discussion at Harvard last Monday centered on the BSO’s recent performances of Wagner’s ”The Flying Dutchman,” the music director spoke about the advantages of opera in concert.
”What I stage in my head gives me more pleasure than what I encounter sometimes,” Levine admitted. ”And while you are losing a theater in a concert performance, and that’s important, there is often a new level of expression in the singing and the playing. And for me 70 to 80 percent of the success of an opera depends on how expressively it is sung.”
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James Levine on Opera in Concert
James Levine
Return music to center of opera, panelists say
By Richard Dyer [Boston Globe, 20 Mar 05]
CAMBRIDGE — James Levine doesn’t like pushy producers and stage directors any more than most opera lovers do.
In a panel discussion at Harvard last Monday centered on the BSO’s recent performances of Wagner’s ”The Flying Dutchman,” the music director spoke about the advantages of opera in concert.
”What I stage in my head gives me more pleasure than what I encounter sometimes,” Levine admitted. ”And while you are losing a theater in a concert performance, and that’s important, there is often a new level of expression in the singing and the playing. And for me 70 to 80 percent of the success of an opera depends on how expressively it is sung.”
Click here for remainder of article.