Maestro Levine Talk Music with Students
On Sunday, February 25th, James Levine – Artistic Director of the Metropolitan Opera and soon to be conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra – was the guest of the Office for the Arts at a luncheon with approximately sixty-five Harvard undergraduates, as well as some faculty and administrators. Over the course of two hours, the maestro fielded a broad range of questions, most of which came from students who are themselves devoted to making music.
Early on in the discussion, Mr. Levine made clear his interest in fostering
new music when he assumes the BSO post. When asked by a student how once
should listen to new music, he said simply: "Don’t prejudge.
You need to shut off your analytical mind. It’s impossible to analyze
a piece on the first listen, anyway. Just listen. That is all. If you
find even a little bit of it that you like or that captures your interest,
then come back and hear it again."
Levine’s visit is part of the "Learning from Performers"
program, and this most distinguished of performers did not hesitate to
dispense advice to undergraduates. To the student who wondered about her
future in music, he advised: "The main thing you have to do in college
is not split your attention between what you’re really interested
in and what you might do if that fails." To another’s question
about finding the right instrumental teacher, he suggested: "When
you start with a teacher, you should know if you’re progressing within
a couple of months. If not, you should get a new teacher."
Much of the conversation, however, strayed beyond specific advice to students
to encompass all matters musical. Regarding his selection of repertoire,
the maestro remarked: "Conducting is about your relationship to the
music. If I haven’t been able to figure my relationship to a piece,
then I can’t conduct it. People will say that I don’t ever conduct
Bruchner, and that must mean I don’t like it. But that’s not
it. I just haven’t found my way into it."
On the matter of instrumental conducting versus choral conducting, Mr.
Levine suggested: "Everything starts with the voice. That’s
the way the great composers heard it. Everything begins there." A
follow up question from a student concerned the translation of work from
the concert hall to the recording studio. "I don’t like recording,"
Mr. Levine replied. "I would rather just do it live. When you cut
and splice together the best segments from different takes, you lose something.
I’ve heard technically perfect recordings that lacked shape, sound,
and musicality. I would never want to hear them again."
Following the close of the luncheon, Mr. Levine was rushing out to meet
a composer, but not before saying that he will be back. One of the students
remarked as he exited, "I hope so, but not in the next week or so!
That was the most intense musical discussion of my Harvard career. I need
to decompress!"
