James Levine, ‘America’s Top Maestro’ Until Career Crashed in Scandal, Dies at 77
Chris Willman Music WriterJames Levine, one of the most renowned conductors of the modern era, whose career at the helm of the Metropolitan Opera crashed amid sexual abuse allegations in 2018, has died at age 77.He was reported Wednesday to have died at home in Palm Springs on March 9. No cause of death was given, nor was there any explanation for why the passing of such a world-renowned figure was not revealed for eight days.Levine was one of the few conductors since Leonard Bernstein to become a household name — borne out when Disney updated its classic “Fantasia” film as “Fantasia 2000” and it was Levine brought in to fill the on-and off-screen conducting role occupied by Bernstein in the original movie.