Conductor demands millions from Opera New York

Former conductor James Levine of The Metropolitan Opera in New York has filed a compensation claim of $ 5.

Levine was discharged earlier this week. According to Levine, the accusations have cost him his job and reputation. The conductor (74) retired in 2016 as a conductor but was still active as artistic director of a program for young musicians.

He had a contract with the opera until 2026 that would give him another $ 400,000 (€ 325,000) per year and a further € 27,000 (€ 22,000) per strike.

In December it became known that the world-famous opera conductor would have abused a minor boy for years. Later, more accusations of sexual harassment came between 1960 and 1980. Levine was forty years at the Metropolitan Opera, in which he conducted 2500 performances.

A lawyer in the service of the opera house responded in the newspaper The New York Times that the claim of Levine is full of inaccuracies. ''