2 of 6 - American Masters - James Levine: America's Maestro

[@mac_shizel4470]

You will never be forgotten

[@davidcowelljr5703]

But for all the wrong reasons.

[@mcbigweener]

@@davidcowelljr5703 In some cases yes, but nobody will forget that he was a musical genius as well.

[@carole2882]

I love this man. He is to me a fantastic musician to put it mildly. Carole

[@zuzannawisniewska4464]

Yes, fantastic musician. Awesome!

[@jcr7635]

magnifique, merci, tout est dit en moins de 10 minutes, superbe !

[@chicagoman58]

The "Conducting Class with George Szell 1969" at 1:49 was not in 1969, it was in 1966. The video comes from "George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra - One Man's Triumph", which is a video of "The Bell Telephone Hour" broadcast of 1966.

[@pega17pl]

(3:22) Levine conducts Beethoven's 5th as it should be (a look at the score reveals it): wild and impetuous. Somebody hits the table with his fist! That must have knocked the listeners softened by Haydn and Mozart and other Viennese composers from their chairs. - Greetings to all musical revolutionaries, Heinz

[@spakeable]

Gênio!!!!!!!!

[@ER1CwC]

6:30 Levine makes an interesting point about having to 'explain' or 'teach' what he wants. But I'm not sure that actually applies to all conductors. There's an anecdote involving Victor de Sabata in which another conductor asked de Sabata to step in during a rehearsal so that that other conductor could go out into the hall and hear how the orchestra sounded like. But the exercise was futile because the orchestra's sound radically changed the moment de Sabata took the helm. So there's an argument to be made that the more charismatic of conductors actually don't need to 'explain' or 'teach.'

[@hightenor123]

@joe94512 Its not an aria per se, its a little duet from the prologue of Boccanegra between Paolo and Boccanegra

[@fatherdmj]

Watching him rehearse Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is entertaining. BURN IT! RIP OFF! Must be speaking in metaphor again.

[@jeffreylin5843]

harder! harder! burn out! rip it off!!!

[@joyfullbunny]

whip it off! Beethoven 5

[@callasnuts]

"Rip it off!!" - as in cut out the fermata - It's not even a "metaphor", it's a purely technical instruction. Hold the fermata with long enough bow intensity (arm weight, slow bowspeed), that's where he calls out "Burn it!" - Jimmie is not exactly analyzing Freud or Jung, as Sinopoli would do for minutes that felt like hours! The orchestra needs to hear a clear and functional language! ;)

[@callasnuts]

"Rip it oof!" - Iy's not even a "metaphor", it's purely technical instruction. Hold the fermata with long enough bow intensity (arm weight, slow bowspeed), that's where he calls out "burn it!" - Jimmie is not analyzing Freud or Jung, as Sinopoli would do for minutes that lasted like hours! The orchestra needs to hear a clear and functional language! ;)

[@pepeelsordo]

It really hurts to hear Placido singing the Simone. Are there any other real baritones in the world? That somebody like Levine accepts that, it's incomprehensible to me. Of course from the pure operatic point of view. Not financially. I feel that both of them are pulling the audience legs, telling them: "since you know nothing about opera, we can do what we want and you will swallow it". It's repugnant to me. And to think that it's a theater that has seen Warren, Merryl, London, Batianini and so many other fantastic baritones, it's even worse. What a disgrace and insult to that magnificent temple of the opera. Shame of you both, from my point of view, of course!!

[@callasnuts]

You are totally right. Hearing Plácido sing in the "wrong" octave gives me personally the feeling that he is marking!...

[@ci7446]

now I will be re-watching all of jimmy's recorded performances from a totally different light, from a specifically homosexual angle

[@antonycooke6402]

It's hard to believe this guy made it in the conducting world, although maybe not-there are SO many 'conductors' who make virtually no difference at all to what comes out-and then, there are others, like Levine, who manages to rush through every moment of musicality, and is driven by nothing more than the beat. Really. . . close your eyes, and ask yourself, can you tell ANYTHING that distinguishes the performance? Just another human metronome with a big ego.

[@liedersanger1]

Clearly, you are not listening to what he is saying to the musicians!

[@antonycooke6402]

It doesn’t matter what he is SAYING!! Naive and shallow MUSICALITY is no substitute.