IN: James Lawrence Levine (; born June 23, 1943) is an American conductor and pianist. He is primarily known for his tenure as Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera (the "Met"), a position he held for 40 years (1976-2016). He was formally terminated by the Met from all his positions and affiliations with the company on March 12, 2018 over sexual misconduct allegations which he denies.

Levine made his Metropolitan Opera (the "Met") debut at age 28 on June 5, 1971, leading a June Festival performance of Tosca. Following further appearances with the company, he was named principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in February 1972. He became the Met's principal conductor in 1973, and its Music Director in 1975. In 1983, he served as conductor and musical director for the Franco Zeffirelli screen adaptation of La Traviata, which featured the Met orchestra and chorus members. He became the company's first artistic director in 1986, and relinquished the title in 2004. In 2005, Levine's combined salary from the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Met made him the highest-paid conductor in the country, at $3.5 million.  During Levine's tenure, the Metropolitan Opera orchestra expanded its activities into the realms of recording, and separate concert series for the orchestra and chamber ensembles from The Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Levine led the Metropolitan Opera on many domestic and international tours. For the 25th anniversary of his Met debut, Levine conducted the world premiere of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby, commissioned especially to mark the occasion. On his appointment as general manager of the Met, Peter Gelb emphasized that Levine was welcome to remain as long as he wanted to direct music there. Levine was paid $2.1 million by the Met in 2010.  Following a series of injuries that began with a fall (see below), Levine's subsequent health problems led to his withdrawal from many Metropolitan Opera conducting engagements. Following a May 2011 performance of Die Walkure, Levine formally withdrew from all conducting engagements at the Met. After two years of physical therapy, Levine returned to conducting with a May 2013 concert with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. On September 25, 2013, Levine conducted his first Met performance since May 2011, in a revival production of Cosi fan tutte. Levine was scheduled to conduct three productions at the opera house and three concerts at Carnegie Hall in the 2013-14 season. On April 14, 2016, Met management announced that Levine would step down from his position as Music Director at the end of the 2015-16 season. Levine was paid $1.8 million by the Met for the 2015/16 season. He assumed the new title of Music Director Emeritus, which he held until December 2017, when in the wake of allegations that Levine had sexually abused four young men, the Met suspended its relationship with him and cancelled all his future scheduled performances with the company.

What did this lead to

OUT: He became the company's first artistic director in 1986, and relinquished the title in 2004.


IN: Villa told a number of conflicting stories about his early life, and his "early life remains shrouded in mystery." According to most sources, he was born on 5 June 1878, and named Jose Doroteo Arango Arambula at birth. His father was a sharecropper named Agustin Arango, and his mother was Micaela Arambula. He grew up at the Rancho de la Coyotada, one of the largest haciendas in the state of Durango.

Villa was a brilliant tactician on the battle field, which translated to political support. In 1913, local military commanders elected him provisional governor of the state of Chihuahua against the wishes of First Chief Carranza, who wished to name Manuel Chao instead.  As Governor of Chihuahua, Villa recruited more experienced generals, including Toribio Ortega, Porfirio Talamantes, and Calixto Contreras to his military staff and achieved more success than ever. Villa's secretary, Perez Rul, divided his army into two groups, one led by Ortega, Contreras, and Orestes Pereira and the other led by Talamantes and Contreras' former deputy, Severianco Ceniceros.  Villa's war tactics were studied by the United States Army and a contract with Hollywood was made whereby Hollywood would be allowed to film Villa's movements and 50% of Hollywood's profit would be paid to Villa to support the Revolution.  As governor of Chihuahua, Villa raised more money for a drive to the south against Huerta's Federal Army by various methods. He printed his own currency and decreed that it could be traded and accepted at par with gold Mexican pesos. He forced the wealthy to give loans to fund the revolutionary war machinery. He confiscated gold from several banks, and in the case of the Banco Minero he held a member of the bank's owning family, the wealthy Terrazas clan, as a hostage until the location of the bank's hidden gold reserves was revealed. He also appropriated land owned by the hacendados (owners of the haciendas) and redistributed it to the widows and family of dead revolutionaries.  Villa's political stature at that time was so high that banks in El Paso, Texas, accepted his paper pesos at face value. His generalship drew enough admiration from the U.S. military that he and Alvaro Obregon were invited to Fort Bliss to meet Brigadier General John J. Pershing. Returning to Mexico, Villa gathered supplies for a drive to the south.  With so many sources of money, Villa expanded and modernized his forces, purchasing draft animals, cavalry horses, arms, ammunition, mobile hospital facilities (railroad cars and horse ambulances staffed with Mexican and foreign volunteer doctors, known as Servicio sanitario), and other supplies, and rebuilt the railroad south of Chihuahua City. He also recruited fighters from Chihuahua and Durango and created a large army known as the Division del Norte (Division of the North), the most powerful and feared military unit in all of Mexico. The rebuilt railroad transported Villa's troops and artillery south, where he defeated the Federal Army forces in a series of battles at Gomez Palacio, Torreon, and eventually at the heart of Huerta's regime in Zacatecas.

Why did he stop being governor?

OUT: