On Thu, 14 Dec 2006, Roger Hecht wrote about James Levine

>Karl Miller writes:
>
>> As for the success of Levine...that has me stumped.  He isn't like any
>> designer gown, he ain't exotic, he is a very well trained highly talented
>> musician, but for me, in the final analysis, his interpretations bore
>> me to death.
>
>Overrated for sure, but that has not stopped the Boston press from
>lionizing him, just as in a different way it covered for Ozawa.

James Levine himself has said on more than one occasion that depth of
interpretation is not what interests him.  He's said he's more interested
in making the pieces "work" for the ensemble, and in programming that
makes people not be passive concertgoers.

Bob Kosovsky, Ph.D. -- Curator, Rare Books and Manuscripts,
Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
   Listowner: OPERA-L ; SMT-TALK ; SMT-ANNOUNCE ; SoundForge-users