BSO Subscriber: Levine Root Of Deficit

A shorter version of his letter ran recently. With Ron Kehoe’s permission, here’s his lengthier comment after reading about the BSO’s recent deficits.

Dear Mr. Edgers,

We read with interest your Friday column on the Boston Symphony's three years of deficits. The article described the deficit and the laughable attempt to offset it by clamping down on volunteers, who are not its principal cause.

As subscribers since the 1960s, we have an insight or two that we'd like to share with you.

These deficits pretty much coincide with the tenure of James Levine, do they not? Did the orchestra experience chronic deficits before he took over?

Possibly Mr. Levine's $3 million salary/benefits package (or is it higher than that?) has something to do with it. [Reporter’s note: Kehoe’s figure is inaccurate, as explained below.] How much more is he being paid than Mr. Ozawa was paid? Could Levine really be worth the difference?

Another possible reason for the deficits is the decline in subscription sales, caused by subscribers becoming sick and tired of Levine trying to shove Eliot Carter, John Harbison and other contemporary favorites of his down our unwelcoming throats by inserting one or more of their pieces into the majority of subscription series concerts. Perhaps he thought we were a captive audience, but now the BSO is learning that we can vote with our feet. In our own case, we buy tickets to concerts that do not include Mr. Levine's favorite composers, and we've found that those concerts almost always are conducted by a guest conductor.

We suggest that you develop a story along these lines, exploring what is, or are, the cause or causes of the deficit. You might ask Mark Volpe for comparative data on the sales of tickets to Levine-led concerts featuring Carter/Harbison et als, and concerts with traditional music and guest conductors. We'll bet the attendance at the latter is stronger than the former.

Sincerely,

Ron & Fran Kehoe

Note on salaries: As I reported last year, James Levine is the highest-paid conductor in the country. But that’s because of his two high profile gigs. The BSO pays him $1.6 million, and the Metropolitan Opera pays Levine’s New York-based firm $1.9 million. That’s a cool $3.5 million. The story lists other conductor salaries.