James Levine Quotes

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James Levine

Profession : Musician

Birth : June 23, 1943

Most people treat the office manual the way they treat a software manual. They never look at it.

James Levine

I was lucky that I met the right mentors and teachers at the right moment.

James Levine

Employee fathers need to step up to the plate and put their family needs on the table.

James Levine

It was just that we had this phenomenal honeymoon relationship that just kept on going.

James Levine

A lot of people get impatient with the pace of change.

James Levine

We're in the midst of an evolution, not a revolution.

James Levine

I grew up in an era where an orchestra was like a treasure chest.

James Levine

More and more couples are having this negotiation or discussion, but I'm still amazed at the number who aren't and where the cultural norm sort of kicks in and they just assume that mom's got to be the one who stays home, not dad.

James Levine

I have a big problem with conductors who gesture a lot.

James Levine

It has to be able to play at the maximum expression and communication in every style, and the only way you can do that is - like Verdi said - working with a file, every day, little by little, until the orchestra's collective qualities emerge.

James Levine

But the important thing is to lie down and fall asleep. That little nap means you wake up fresh again and can continue.

James Levine

It wasn't that I ever knew I'd be at the Met for 20 years, or 30 years, or 40 years, or anything like that.

James Levine

And so, little by little, I gradually divested myself of pretty nearly all of the guest conducting I used to do, because I was at the same time working in the places like the Met, where I could work in this sort of depth.

James Levine

You try on purpose to get players with different qualities which will rub off on one another.

James Levine

I think this orchestra's strengths involve drama and voice.

James Levine

There is no relationship between the gestures and what an orchestra will do.

James Levine

Where my tastes in music are concerned, I'm a real maximalist.

James Levine

It's just that, when the orchestra look at me, I want them to see a completely involved person who reflects what we rehearsed, and whose function is to make it possible for them to do it.

James Levine

Great cataclysmic things can go by and neither the orchestra nor the conductor are under the delusion that whether they make this or that gesture is going to be the deciding factor in how it comes out.

James Levine

When they are performing in front of the public, they ought to have a sensation that's relatively easy, if the technical and the interpretive work was done before.

James Levine