tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post5487661631690139248..comments2024-03-27T21:41:50.122-07:00Comments on Iron Tongue of Midnight: It's About Time.Lisa Hirschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-21705258936047563692016-04-14T23:16:37.187-07:002016-04-14T23:16:37.187-07:00Yes, I read your February post back then, and it w...Yes, I read your February post back then, and it was very good.<br /><br />It was clear then that Gelb - with good reason - wanted Levine to retire and that Levine himself desperately wanted not to.<br /><br />The NY Times article with all the embarrassing details about Levine's incapacity was pretty clearly Gelb's way of cornering Levine by letting the entire world know just how badly Levine's abilities had deteriorated.<br /><br />So yes, the retirement itself was pretty clearly coming.<br /><br />What looks sudden to me is the timing of the announcement: smack in the middle of the afternoon, no advance notice to the Times (which <i>always</i> gets advance notice), no quote from Levine in the press release, no replacement conductor for the dates Levine has cancelled, and Levine still scheduled for productions and concerts that he probably won't be capable of actually conducting.<br /><br />It's almost as if Gelb and key Board members this morning decided "Enough already" and lowered the boom, adding a few details to a press release text that had been written in advance weeks ago and sending it out.MEWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03553201225739288581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-17057982800200617712016-04-14T12:25:29.667-07:002016-04-14T12:25:29.667-07:00I don't think it's sudden at all. The Met ...I don't think it's sudden at all. The Met was clear around the time of the season announcement that they almost announced his retirement then. That was just two months ago. He is withdrawing from a concert that is only about five weeks away, also.<br /><br />Here's <a href="http://irontongue.blogspot.com/2016/02/met-governance-again-and-again-and-again.html" rel="nofollow">my blog post from February about this</a>.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-86787586103836829482016-04-14T12:20:07.057-07:002016-04-14T12:20:07.057-07:00I have to say I'm surprised that it has come q...I have to say I'm surprised that it has come quite like this - and not, say, as a Friday afternoon news dump. Levine has been so obviously desperate not to go that this seems very sudden. Especially since it seems that The New York Times was not given an advance heads-up.MEWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03553201225739288581noreply@blogger.com