Metropolitan Opera to investigate longtime conductor after sexual misconduct allegations
NEW YORK -- New York's Metropolitan Opera will investigate allegations that its longtime conductor, James Levine, sexually abused a man for years beginning when the man a teenager.
The man told police in Lake Forest, Illinois that the misconduct started in 1985 when he was 15 and Levine was in his early 40s.
The man said Levine first held his hand in an "incredibly sensual" way. He said that the following summer, Levine lay naked with him in bed and touched his penis.
Details of the police report were first reported Saturday on the website of the New York Post.
Met officials said in a statement that Levine has denied the charges. They said the opera house will now conduct its own investigation.
We are deeply disturbed by the news articles that are being published online today about James Levine. We are working on an investigation w outside resources to determine whether charges of sexual misconduct in the 1980s are true, so that we can take appropriate action.
— Metropolitan Opera (@MetOpera) December 3, 2017
In a 1987 interview with The New York Times, Levine dismissed rumors about sexual abuse, saying there were "reports of a morals charge in Pittsburgh or Hawaii or Dallas."
"Both my friends and my enemies checked it out and to this day, I don't have the faintest idea where those rumors came from or what purpose they served," Levine told the Times.
The 74-year-old Levine retired from the Met in April 2016.