James Levine

The brother of conductor James Levine says the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera music director has had surgery in New York to remove a kidney. Tom Levine said in a statement released by the Boston Symphony Orchestra that his 65-year-old brother's surgery Tuesday "went exactly as planned and expected, and has been described by the doctors involved as completely successful." James Levine will remain in the hospital for several days. He is expected to perform next on Sept.

James Levine has just earned some of the most important rave reviews of his long and distinguished career -- not from music critics, but from doctors on his medical team, who say that the long-ailing conductor has achieved a "remarkable" recuperation from severe back injuries and can resume performing with the Metropolitan Opera next spring. The Met announced Levine's impending return on Thursday, with what may be the first news release by a performing arts group to be dominated by quotes from four physicians.

James Levine has just earned some of the most important rave reviews of his long and distinguished career -- not from music critics, but from doctors on his medical team, who say that the long-ailing conductor has achieved a "remarkable" recuperation from severe back injuries and can resume performing with the Metropolitan Opera next spring. The Met announced Levine's impending return on Thursday, with what may be the first news release by a performing arts group to be dominated by quotes from four physicians.

Even the greatest ensembles have their rough patches, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra is no exception. Having endured the long goodbye of Seiji Ozawa, its 15th music director, who departed after 29 years in 2002, the 131-year-old ensemble faces another wrenching transition. The venerable orchestra is making its way forward following the resignation of Ozawa's successor, James Levine, who announced his departure in March after years of poor health and last-minute cancellations. Yet despite such trying times, the BSO's vaunted reputation for musical elegance and subtlety survives intact.

Having lost 35 pounds following shoulder surgery, James Levine wants to lose 15 more as he tries to focus on his health with the same energy he devotes to music. Levine, music director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, tore his right rotator cuff when he fell leaving the stage at Boston's Symphony Hall on March 1. He returns to the podium on July 7, when he opens the BSO's Tanglewood season conducting Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No.

Even the greatest ensembles have their rough patches, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra is no exception. Having endured the long goodbye of Seiji Ozawa, its 15th music director, who departed after 29 years in 2002, the 131-year-old ensemble faces another wrenching transition. The venerable orchestra is making its way forward following the resignation of Ozawa's successor, James Levine, who announced his departure in March after years of poor health and last-minute cancellations. Yet despite such trying times, the BSO's vaunted reputation for musical elegance and subtlety survives intact.

James Levine, artistic director of the Metropolitan Opera, has been there for 25 years, and still seems out of place amid the Met's magnificent glamour. He is a small, pudgy man who alternates between two outfits: his evening work clothes (white tie and tails, usually drenched in sweat) and his daytime attire (white polo shirt, shapeless blue polyester pants, desert boots, a towel slung over his left shoulder).

James Levine is effusive. He is effusive because that is the way he naturally is, a trait that makes him a favorite among singers and orchestra players but that can make cynics slightly leery. He is also, on this occasion, effusive because he is talking about the Met Orchestra, which is what the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra now calls itself when it plays concerts, as it will under Levine at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in two different programs tonight and Thursday.

Conductor James Levine has returned to New York and is having additional tests on his injured shoulder. Levine, music director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was hurt March 1 when he tripped on the stage at Boston's Symphony Hall during ovations after a performance. Although he did not break any bones, Levine, 62, may have rotator cuff damage. He canceled his next two performances with the orchestra and a U.S. tour that began Monday.

James Levine, the ailing music director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is having back surgery this week and has announced that he is withdrawing from conducting engagements this fall. The Metropolitan Opera said that Levine will miss all of his scheduled conducting appearances with the company through the beginning of December. "Levine's doctors expect him to recover in time to conduct the new production of 'Les Contes d'Hoffmann,' which opens Dec. 3," said a Met spokeswoman by e-mail.

Walter Isaacson's biography of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs leaped to the top of bestseller lists in its first week in book stores, flying off shelves to the tune of 379,000 copies, according to Nielsen's BookScan. "Steve Jobs," which came out on Oct. 24 from publisher Simon & Schuster, sold three times more copies than the next-bestselling book, John Grisham's "The Litigators. " In its first week alone the book became one of the year's 20 bestsellers. It has been a year since any book has sold more copies in its first week.

Just weeks after Fox dropped "America's Most Wanted" after more than two decades, its creator-host, John Walsh, has a new home for the show on the Lifetime network. The deal, announced jointly on Tuesday by Walsh and Lifetime, will return to the air Walsh's weekly criminal roundup, which since 1988 has helped bring almost 1,200 fugitives to justice. The series will return for its 25th season later this year. In May, Fox announced it was axing "AMW," citing high production costs.

James Levine, the ailing music director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is having back surgery this week and has announced that he is withdrawing from conducting engagements this fall. The Metropolitan Opera said that Levine will miss all of his scheduled conducting appearances with the company through the beginning of December. "Levine's doctors expect him to recover in time to conduct the new production of 'Les Contes d'Hoffmann,' which opens Dec. 3," said a Met spokeswoman by e-mail.

A growth on a kidney removed from conductor James Levine was malignant, but doctors say the cancer was caught early and no further treatment is needed, the Boston Symphony Orchestra said Tuesday. Doctors in New York removed the right kidney last week because the growth was causing pressure and discomfort for Levine, 65, music director of the BSO and the Metropolitan Opera. The surgery forced him to miss the remainder of the BSO's Tanglewood season. Levine's brother, Tom Levine, said in a statement that his brother was relieved by the doctors' report, in good spirits recuperating at home and looking forward to conducting the opening events of the 2008-09 seasons of the BSO and the Met in September.

The brother of conductor James Levine says the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera music director has had surgery in New York to remove a kidney. Tom Levine said in a statement released by the Boston Symphony Orchestra that his 65-year-old brother's surgery Tuesday "went exactly as planned and expected, and has been described by the doctors involved as completely successful." James Levine will remain in the hospital for several days. He is expected to perform next on Sept.

James Levine will have a kidney removed in surgery this week, causing the conductor to miss the remainder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Tanglewood season. The 65-year-old music director of both the BSO and the Metropolitan Opera will need six weeks of recovery time, the BSO said in a statement Tuesday. He is expected to be back on the podium for the start of the Met and BSO seasons in September. Levine's kidney is being removed because of a cyst that is causing pressure and discomfort.

James Levine, music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is still recovering after taking a tumble as he left the stage at the end of a concert. Levine didn't break anything during Wednesday's fall, but as of Friday he was still "experiencing considerable soreness and discomfort in his shoulder" and may need to continue resting through the weekend, the orchestra's managing director Mark Volpe said.

"Toscanini--The Maestro/Verdi: Hymn of the Nations." VAI. $49.95. With a knowing compilation of documentary footage, rare home movies and contemporary interviews, Peter Rosen has produced a loving, poignant, discerning portrait of a temperamental giant who also happened to be a fierce individualist and rugged political moralist. James Levine, acting as host, provides a telling modern perspective.

Burn calories at your computer. Sounds like a come-on, doesn't it? But there's a plan afoot to put computers atop treadmills and exercise bikes to help you do just that. It's called a NEAT office, and it has more to do with getting your body in shape than your cubicle. NEAT stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis -- the scientific term for burning calories at your desk job and in other nontraditional workout settings.

Having lost 35 pounds following shoulder surgery, James Levine wants to lose 15 more as he tries to focus on his health with the same energy he devotes to music. Levine, music director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, tore his right rotator cuff when he fell leaving the stage at Boston's Symphony Hall on March 1. He returns to the podium on July 7, when he opens the BSO's Tanglewood season conducting Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No.