Levine to have surgery

NEWS. James Levine will have a kidney removed in surgery this week, causing the conductor to miss the remainder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood season. The 65-year-old music director of both the BSO and the Metropolitan Opera will need six weeks of recovery time, the BSO said in a statement yesterday. He is expected to be back on the podium for the start of the Met and BSO seasons in September.

“It is extremely frustrating that I need to have this surgery now,” Levine said in a statement. “I especially regret not being [at Tanglewood] with Elliott Carter for his 100th birthday celebration, which I was looking forward to more than I can say.”

Levine has been music director of the BSO since 2004 and music or artistic director of the Met since 1976.