We all recently learned of the death of James Levine, long-time conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in NYC and Boston Symphony…and one “giant” who’s legacy has been tainted by substantiated allegations of various forms of abuse. A good friend of mine, and my former conducting professor from my grad school days, recently came under fire for what appears to be an expression of awe for Levine’s musical career (I did not see the original post, so I’m only speculating based upon the most recent post in which he was under fire, and had apologized for his previous post). He seemed to be trying to reconcile something that we’ve all had to reconcile lately, on more than just legendary music conductors. How can an absolute monster be so great?
First off, I want the reader to know that I hold a great respect my former professor, and I believe that his intentions were good in his original post even though I didn’t get to read it. Having studied many musical scores with him, listened to recordings with him in class, and having watched conductors and discussed drawing inspiration from them in grad seminars, I can tell you that his admiration for music is is genuine, and it lacks hyperbole. He is simply grappling with the question above, and that is the inspiration behind writing this post.
So how can a monster be great? Well, let’s clear up a simple vernacular mis-characterization. “Great” is often associated with a positive connotation, when it really carries neither a negative or positive connotation in its meaning. All it means is that something is characterized as above average, or beyond what is considered normal. Or that it is immense, considerably above the norm. To put it another way, both Mother Teresa and Adolf Hitler can be characterized as doing “great” things. Obviously, Teresa was a positively great woman, with her work with the poor and marginalized and her positive impact on the wider world. But one can also assert that Hitler was a negatively great man, and his works of evil, crimes against humanity were immense beyond what the world had experienced at that point, and his impact was felt all over the world too; albeit in a negative way. It is as one fictional Brit one put it: “I think we can expect great things from you. For even he did great things…terrible, but great.”
Without sounding like I’m praising Hitler (because I promise I’m not), the point is that greatness isn’t defined by one’s good or evil intentions and therefore being a musical genius and a good person can be mutually exclusive. So if we buy into losing that positive connotation on the word “great”, James Levine makes a little more sense, at least logically. That’s how one can be a musical genius and a monster.
Levine isn’t the only fallen legend these days. In the music world, I can point to David Haas and James David Christie as some of the most recent legends in their fields who recently have had they darker angels revealed. And even without abuse allegations, there have been countless times in history where legendary musicians (and conductors) have had a nasty side to go along with their greatness. For example, George Szell was known to be a brutal dictator during his time in Cleveland; Herbert von Karajan had ties to the Nazis, and even outside of the conducting world, musicians throughout history have had ties to drugs, tumultuous lives, and even dark activities. Remind me to tell you about Berlioz and his opioid addiction sometime. And for all those, we also have musical legends who have possessed both musical greatness and been a good human too. Ricardo Muti in Chicago springs to mind as a recent example of this; and believe me there are countless others.
So can you separate the musical genius from the monster? Well, that’s really a personal preference, but to describe my stance, I would want to invoke another area where tainted legends have played a large role; that of professional sports; how we look at baseball’s steroids era, or football’s proclivity to spawn violent thugs, or basketball’s capacity to…well have everything from drugs to rock and roll. And hockey and soccer are by no means errorless either. Just recently, a member of the Yankees, a team that I have passionately rooted for, for decades, was suspended for domestic violence (and the episode was really ugly), and he has recently returned and is vying for a spot on the roster. I was one to call on the team to cut this player during his suspension, because a moral code always outranks the baseball one, no matter who it is. Domestic violence, and other crimes against humanity, have no place anywhere, but especially not in millionaire athletes being paid to play a child’s game. And with so many decent, honest, morally filled players just waiting for their chance….to entertain this player on the team is an absolute insult to those who continue to wait and worse, those who never make it to this level. There are some things that are unforgivable, and that should have permanent consequences.
Such is how I view the legacy of any legend who is tainted like this. What Levine, and Haas and Christie are accused of are far worse than merely cheating (which in itself is a crime against the sport); they are accused of sexual misconduct, and abusing their positions of power. They possessed great influence over the next generation, especially those up and coming youth, and their evil actions have forever tainted these people (and without revealing a dear friend’s personal story, know that this is closer to home than you might realize). Crimes against humanity, and absolute evil, simply cannot hold up against even the most artistic of musical achievements; just as achievements on the baseball field can’t be parsed in the light of cheating and scandals (Yes, Barry Bonds, you therefore will never be my home run king).
Having been a music director for a good long while now, I can say, unequivocally that directing music is not, and should never be about the person waving the stick on the podium. It is about the 70 players in front of them, whom they are bringing together to make music. I work with volunteers, so I know that their experience must gravitate more towards overt positivity to ensure they return for the next experience, and that sometimes the cause of progress must be slowed for this; but eventually we all can read the same place. Paid professionals can be pushed a little more, but a truly great conductor has the ability to unite and build up these musicians to be great. Again, I reference Ricardo Muti, heading towards the coda of his career in Chicago. And in the process let’s not forget the musicians themselves; they are the ones making the music. Without them, the conductor is simply somebody standing on a podium waving a stick to an empty room.
So, if you want to burn all the recordings of James Levine’s orchestras, I can certainly understand that you want to separate yourself from Levine’s evil side, but I would encourage you to remember the musicians in the orchestra too. For it is the flutist who makes Afternoon of a Faun; brass section who makes the Tannhauser Overture; the English Horn that makes the Pines of the Appian Way, the violin that makes Scheherezade and Danse Macabre, the timpani that takes us to the Scaffold in Fantastique, it is the double bass that makes you think Frere Jacques isn’t such a cheery tune in Mahler 1, and they all come together to tell the story of Peter and the Wolf and the Carnival of the Animals. The legacy of these recordings is far, far more than the conductor; its the greatest musicians in the world coming together to do (positively) great things. Listening to recordings can be more about the musicians making the music, and that would be enough for me to separate from the evil man with the stick.
I think it comes down to personal preference, but I think there’s validity in either approach here. You can avoid these recordings, so as to not partake of an evil man’s makings, and instead partake of recordings made of good, decent, and honest people. And these people are great both in musicality and in humanity (and I think the recordings rival Levine’s in many ways). You can invest in the notion that everyone is replaceable; that like minor league baseball, there’s always another great player waiting in the wings, waiting for their turn. But, it is also possible for one to separate the evil maestro from the great recordings, and listen for the musicians in the orchestra.