Breaking: James Levine having surgery
Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director James Levine will undergo surgery for a herniated spinal disc.
That's in a statement from Ronald Wilford, Levine’s manager. That means Levine won't be conducting the BSO in Boston tonight, Thursday at Carnegie Hall or in Symphony Hall Saturday. He's also withdrawn from performances at the Metropolitan Opera on Oct. 6 and 10. He has already missed time at the Met.
This is the latest health setback for Levine, who missed four months in 2006 after falling onstage during a Symphony Hall concert and tearing his rotator cuff. In 2008, Levine missed all but the opening night concert at Tanglewood during the BSO's summer season to have a kidney removed.
The BSO, in a release, said that assistant conductor Shi-Yeon Sung will conduct tonight’s performance of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Mozart’s Requiem. Shi-Yeon Sung and assistant conductor Julian Kuerti will split Saturday's program.
James Levine directing "Les Troyens" during opening night at Tanglewood in 2008. It would be his lone concert of the summer season. (Michael J. Lutch/For The New York Times)
