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Gilbert Levine
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Sir Gilbert Levine (born January 22, 1948, Brooklyn, New York) is an American conductor. He is considered an "outstanding personality in the world of international music television." Levine is a Knight Commander with Star of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.
ne attended the Juilliard School of Music, and holds degrees from both Princeton University (A.B.) and Yale University (M.A.). He studied bassoon with Stephen Maxym and Sherman Walt, piano with Gilbert Kalish, Music History with Lewis Lockwood and Arthur Mendel, Music Theory with Edward T. Cone, Peter Westergaard and Milton Babbitt, ear training and score reading with Nadia Boulanger, Renée Longy, and Luise Vosgerchian, and conducting with Jacques-Louis Monod and Franco Ferrara.
Levine was assistant to Sir Georg Solti in London at the London Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), and in Paris with l'Orchestre de Paris.
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Encyclopedia
Sir Gilbert Levine (born January 22, 1948, Brooklyn, New York) is an American conductor. He is considered an "outstanding personality in the world of international music television." Levine is a Knight Commander with Star of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.
Education
Levine attended the Juilliard School of Music, and holds degrees from both Princeton University (A.B.) and Yale University (M.A.). He studied bassoon with Stephen Maxym and Sherman Walt, piano with Gilbert Kalish, Music History with Lewis Lockwood and Arthur Mendel, Music Theory with Edward T. Cone, Peter Westergaard and Milton Babbitt, ear training and score reading with Nadia Boulanger, Renée Longy, and Luise Vosgerchian, and conducting with Jacques-Louis Monod and Franco Ferrara.
Levine was assistant to Sir Georg Solti in London at the London Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), and in Paris with l'Orchestre de Paris. Levine was also a protegé of Klaus Tennstedt.
Levine has lectured at Harvard University, Princeton University, and Yale University, and has taught conducting both at Yale and the Manhattan School of Music. His conducting students have included the American composer Aaron Jay Kernis. Levine maintains current ties to his two alma maters. He serves as a member of the Princeton University Department of Music Advisory Council and has recently been appointed to a fifth term as Associate Fellow of Trumbull College/Yale by the Yale Corporation, that university's highest governing body.
Early career and the Krakow Philharmonic years
Early in his career, Levine conducted orchestras both in Europe and the United States, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the NDR Sinfonie-Orchester Hamburg, and the Radio-Sinfonie Orchester-Berlin.
Levine first gained international notice when he became conductor and artistic director of the Kraków Philharmonic in 1987. He was the first American chief conductor of an Eastern European orchestra. His appointment was initially controversial because of the general consensus that Krzysztof Penderecki forced the choice of Levine on the orchestra. Under his leadership, the orchestra made the first visit by any Polish orchestra to South Korea. Under Levine, the Krakow Philharmonic also performed for the first time with such soloists as Emanuel Ax, Garrick Ohlsson, and Shlomo Mintz. Levine concluded his tenure in Krakow in 1993.
Concerts for Pope John Paul II and pontifical knighthood
In 1988, while working in Kraków, Levine met Pope John Paul II, at the latter's invitation. The Pope subsequently asked Levine to conduct the concert commemorating the 10th anniversary of his Pontificate. This concert was originally broadcast by RAI, Italian television, and throughout Europe via Eurovision. It was subsequently broadcast and re-broadcast on Public Television in the U.S. over the next 17 years.
In 1993, Levine conducted for the Pope at World Youth Day in Denver. That program included the first performances of works by Bernstein, Barber, and Copland at any Papal event, and was televised world-wide.
In 1994, Levine (whose mother-in-law was an Auschwitz survivor) conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the historic "Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah (Holocaust)," which marked the first official Vatican commemoration of the Nazi genocide of World War II. Featured guest artists were Lynn Harrell and Richard Dreyfuss, who narrated an excerpt from Leonard Bernstein's Third Symphony (Kaddish).
In 1998, Levine led members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and, with the special permission of Pope John Paul II, the ancient Capella Giulia Choir of St. Peter's Basilica, in concerts to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the founding of Mission San Luis Rey in California. These concerts constituted the first visit of this 500 year-old choir to the Western Hemisphere, and were broadcast on NPR’s "Performance Today".
Other Papal concerts at the Vatican directed by Levine included the first of two concerts celebrating the Catholic Church's Grand Jubilee in 2000 with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus performing parts one and two of Haydn's The Creation. Levine conducted a 2003 televised musical celebration of the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's pontificate with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Saint Peter's Basilica, a concert which aired on American Broadcasting Company (ABC).
In 2004, Levine conducted his last concert for Pope John Paul II, leading the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and members of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, the London Philharmonic Choir, the Krakow Philharmonic Choir, and the Ankara Polyphonic Choir in the "Papal Concert of Reconciliation." This event was the first time that any American orchestra had performed for any Pope in the Vatican. The concert, broadcast worldwide, included Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 Resurrection, and Abraham, a specially-commissioned motet by John Harbison.
Over the years of his relationship with John Paul II, Levine became known as "the Pope's Maestro." In 1994, for his services to the Pope and to the Vatican, he was invested as a Knight Commander of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great, the highest Papal knighthood accorded to a non-ecclesiastical musician since Mozart. Upon John Paul II's death, Levine called him a friend and "an incredible sustenance for me." In 2005, Levine conducted a memorial concert for the Pontiff, which was broadcast on PBS. That same year, Pope John Paul II's successor, Pope Benedict XVI, honoured Levine with the Silver Star of Saint Gregory, the highest rank of pontifical nobility achieved by a Jew in the history of the Vatican.
Additional work
In the UK, Levine and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have recorded Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3. In 2000, Levine was named Artistic Director and Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra's "Millennium Creation Series." In this capacity he toured America and Europe, performing Haydn's The Creation in televised concerts in Baltimore, London, and Rome. He led the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) in 2003, conducting selections from Verdi and Mozart on ABC's "Good Morning America" in a historic first for that program.
In the same year, Levine led the LPO and London Philharmonic Choir in televised performances of excerpts of Gorecki's Third Symphony and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony from Krakow, during the city's reign as the European Capital of Culture. On this occasion, Levine received the Krakow Gold Medallion from the city president, in recognition of his services to Krakow's cultural life.
From 2004 to 2006, Levine led the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in a series of concerts called "Music for the Spirit," which included a 2004 performance of the Verdi Requiem., a January 2006 concert to commemorate the 100th anniversary of St. Paul's Cathedral in Pittsburgh of Haydn's The Creation, and a June 2006 concert of Gustav Mahler's Third Symphony.
In November 2005, Levine led the Orchestra of Saint Luke's and the Morgan State University Choir in a concert entitled "Rejoice in this Land", which included Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and the world premiere of Washington Speaks by Richard Danielpour, with Ted Koppel as narrator. The performance was broadcast throughout the United States both on terrestrial radio in major cities and on XM Satellite Radio.
Media coverage
On television, Levine has been featured on many occasions, both as a news subject and in concert. In addition to his appearance on "Good Morning America," and his numerous performances on European television, the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes featured a profile of him titled "The Pope’s Maestro". Other stories about him have been featured on such programs as "CBS Evening News," "CBS Sunday Morning" (on which he was profiled by Eugenia Zukerman), "ABC World News Tonight" and "ABC Nightline" with Ted Koppel, as well as on both "Larry King Live" and "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer, on CNN. He has appeared on National Public Radio on such programs as Symphony Cast, Performance Today, and All Things Considered.
Television concerts
Levine's television-aired concert performances have included the following:
- 1988: "A Musical Offering from the Vatican". Orchestra of RAI/Roma, Choirs of RAI, Krakow Philharmonic and Warsaw Philharmonic. Brahms "Ave Maria", Penderecki "Stabat Mater:, Dvorák Mass in D. Original Broadcaster: RAI/Roma/European Broadcast Union. PBS broadcast as "A Musical Offering from the Vatican: A Papal Concert" (1992). Released on VHS by View Video
- 1994: "Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah". Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Coro della Filharmonia Romana. Bruch Kol Nidre, Beethoven Ninth Symphony (Third Movement), Schubert Psalm 92, Excerpt of the Bernstein Third Symphony ("Kaddish"), Bernstein Chichester Psalms (Movements 2 and 3) --Original Broadcaster: RAI/EBU, PBS (WNET). Released on VHS by Rhino
- 2000: "Jubilee Creation". Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus. Haydn: The Creation. US Broadcast by Maryland Public Broadcasting/PBS
- 2000: Concert for the 80th Birthday of His Holiness Pope John Paul II. Haydn: The Creation. Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus. Original Broadcaster: RAI/EBU.
- 2000: "A Thousand Years of Music and Spirit". London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. Bogurodzica, Gorecki Third Symphony (Second Movement), Beethoven Ninth Symphony. Original Broadcaster: Telewizja Polska. US broadcast by WTTW.
- 2002: Concert in Commemoration of the 1st Anniversary of the Terror Attacks of September 11th. Sachsische Staatskapelle Dresden and Munchener Bachchor. Barber "Agnus Dei", Gorecki Totus Tuus, Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem--Original Broadcaster: Telewizja Polska/EBU
- 2004: "Papal Concert of Reconciliation". Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, London Philharmonic Choir, Krakow Philharmonic Choir, Ankara Polyphonic Choir. Harbison "Abraham" (World Premiere), Mahler Second Symphony (First, Fourth, and Fifth Movements) --Original Broadcaster: RAI/EBU. US broadcat by WQED (Pittsburgh). Released on DVD by WQED Multimedia Pittsburgh
- 2005: "Crossing the Bridge of Faiths: Im Memoriam Pope John Paul II"--Sachsische Staatskapelle Dresden and Munchener Bachchor--Gorecki Totus Tuus, Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem--Original Broadcaster: WQED (Pittsburgh)/PBS
- 2005: "Missa Solemnis". Beethoven Missa Solemnis. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Choir--Original Broadcaster: WDR (Köln)/3SAT (released on DVD by Arthaus)
- 2007: Bruckner Ninth Symphony, Bruckner Te Deum. WDR Sinfonieorchester (Köln), WDR Rundfunkchor (Köln), NDR Chor (Hamburg). Original Broadcaster: WDR (Köln)/3SAT
- 2008: "From Heart to Heart: Beethoven’s Plea for Peace" . "Missa Solemnis" from Cologne Cathedral. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Choir. Co-production of WDR/Koln and Peter Rosen Productions, Inc. Original Broadcaster: WQED Multimedia/Pittsburgh and American Public Television (APT).
Selected audio recordings
- Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, RSO Berlin (Capriccio)
- Britten: Simple Symphony, Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Les Illuminations (with Elisabeth Söderström), English Chamber Orchestra (Arabesque)
- Shostakovich: First Symphony, Age of Gold (excerpts), Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and Strings, Op. 35 (Garrick Ohlsson, Maurice Murphy), Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra (Arabesque)
- Papal Concert to Commemorate the Holocaust: Bruch, Kol Nidrei; Beethoven, Ninth Symphony (Movement 3); Schubert, Psalm 92; Bernstein, Third Symphony (excerpt) and Chichester Psalms (Movements 2 and 3); Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Lynn Harrell, Richard Dreyfuss (Narrator)
- Tchaikovsky, Third Symphony; Rimsky-Korsakov, Piano Concerto, Op. 30 (Jeffrey Campbell): Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Telarc)
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