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When Levine stops, it is generally to correct errors, polish details or discuss fine points of interpretation. There is little philosophizing about music, something musicians hate. "You can make even a bigger deal out of that," he will say to a reticent oboist, encouraging him to play a phrase more grandly. "Bass drum, diminuendo, a little less all the way through," he will call out to an enthusiastic percussionist. Levine rarely raises his voice, preferring to maintain a relaxed but efficient atmosphere. "He's cool," says Trumpeter Melvyn Broiles. "I've never seen him flip out. He doesn't blow his top." Even at pressure-filled moments, such as the dress rehearsal of the Met's new production of Verdi's Macbeth recently, Levine maintains his equanimity. When backstage noise threatened to drown out the singers, he only briefly raised his voice: "Come on, people, we're trying to have a dress rehearsal here!" he shouted, continuing to conduct. The talking ceased.
When things go well, Levine signals his pleasure with a warm, broad smile; indeed, when conducting he communicates almost as much by facial expressions and eye contact as he does with his baton. He wants the musicians to watch him carefully, and he rarely lets them out of his sight. "He will often say to us, 'Give me some eyes, give me some eyes,' " says Gniewek. Singers get the same treatment. Says Baritone Sherrill Milnes: "If you are singing of love, you look down and his face is reading love." Yet Levine tries not to get so caught up in the music that he loses perspective. "Take the last page of Bohème," he says. "Many people cry. They are moved over and over again. As a conductor, I want to make sure that reaction happens. My tears only hurt my ability to make the audience cry."
A relaxed, reassuring attitude persists when Levine puts down his baton and attends to the details of running the Met in association with General Manager Anthony A. Bliss. This season, the Met will offer 210 performances of 23 operas during its 30-week season at New York City's Lincoln Center, as well as the 56 performances it presents while on tour in the spring. Notes Kurt Herbert Adler, who was general director of the San Francisco Opera for 28 years until his retirement a year ago: "There are two jobs in this country that are impossible to fill. One is President of the U.S., and the other is director of the Metropolitan Opera."