James Levine & Metropolitan Opera Settlement Revealed

By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Koichi Miura/Metropolitan Opera)

The terms of James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera have been revealed a year after it was reached.

In a New York Times report, it was revealed that Peter Gelb, General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, “told the committee that the resolution was advantageous to the Met. But the settlement, whose terms have not been publicly disclosed until now, called for the company and its insurer to pay Mr. Levine $3.5 million, according to two people familiar with its terms.”

According to the newly released report, the settlement included a strict nondisclosure clause. Board members were also told that insurance would cover the company’s litigation costs, which in fiscal year 2019 amounted to more than $1.8 million, some of it related to the Levine investigation. According to the report, $900,000 of the payment to Levine was covered by the Insurance company and the Met was responsible for roughly $2.6 million.

James Levine was fired in 2018 by the Metropolitan Opera after allegations of sexual misconduct were revealed. The company resisted paying Levine severance, or any money owed under his existing contract and as a result the conductor sued. The Met countersued and eventually came to a settlement in August 2019.

After losing every job in the United States, Levine has found support from several European companies, including the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

The Metropolitan Opera is scheduled to open its 2020-21 season on Dec. 31, 2020.

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