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Levine has been plagued by health issues for years, including a form of Parkinson's disease and numerous back problems. By 2010, he had to sit in a chair while conducting, and by the next year could no longer walk on stage to take his bows. Then in August 2011 he damaged a vertebra in a fall, leaving him with no feeling in his legs. In recent months he has started to walk again and he has said doctors hold out hope for a complete recovery at some point. His return extends a phenomenal record that began on June 5, 1971, with Puccini's "Tosca." Over the decades, while he assumed the titles of music director and, for a time, artistic director as well, he has conducted 2,441 performances
-- make that 2,442 now! -- more than twice the number of his closest competitor, Artur Bodansky. More important than sheer numbers, he has shaped the orchestra into an ensemble many consider one of the finest in the world. Tuesday was the second night of the 2013-14 Met season, which opened Monday with a new production of Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin." Levine is scheduled for a total of 24 performances of three operas: "Cosi," Verdi's "Falstaff" and Berg's "Wozzeck."
[Associated
Press;
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