Levine to have 2nd back operation, miss Met season

[April 20, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Conductor James Levine will have a second back operation and will miss the rest of the Metropolitan Opera season.

The 66-year-old is the music director of the Met and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He had surgery last fall to repair a herniated disk in his back and returned to the podium Dec. 3.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra announced March 22 he would miss three weeks because of back problems. The Met said Sunday he will have corrective surgery.

Levine has missed performances for a series of ailments. He tore his rotator cuff in March 2006 when he tripped and fell on the stage of Boston's Symphony Hall during ovations. His right kidney was removed in July 2008 because of a malignant tumor.

[Associated Press; By RONALD BLUM]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.