7 Facts About James Levine

1. In March 2010, the BSO announced that James Levine would miss the remainder of the Boston Symphony season because of back pain.

2. On March 1, 2006, James Levine tripped and fell onstage during a standing ovation after a performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and tore the rotator cuff in his right shoulder, leaving the remaining subscription concerts in Boston to his assistant conductor at the time.

3. On September 25, 2013, James Levine conducted his first Met performance since May 2011, in a revival production of Cosi fan tutte.

4. For the 25th anniversary of his Met debut, James Levine conducted the world premiere of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby, commissioned especially to mark the occasion.

5. In 2005, James Levine's combined salary from the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Met made him the highest-paid conductor in the country, at $3.5 million.

6. In June 1971, James Levine was called in at the last moment to substitute for Istvan Kertesz, to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Mahler's Second Symphony for the Ravinia Festival's opening concert of their 36th season.

7. On February 21, 1954, at the age of 10, James Levine made his concert debut as soloist playing Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No 2 at a youth concert of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Ohio.