4:58 p.m. | Updated James Levine, the Metropolitan Opera’s ailing music director, has withdrawn from conducting at the house this season and the next, the Met and Mr. Levine said on Friday.
Mr. Levine cancelled the last remaining dates on his schedule — two cycles of Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” in April and May — and withdrew from all productions he had planned to lead next season.
Fabio Luisi, the Met’s principal conductor and Mr. Levine’s stand-in, will take over the “Ring” performances except for the last two dates, a May 9 “Siegfried” and a May 12 “Gotterdammerung.” Replacements are being sought for those two performances, along with productions next season that had been planned for Mr. Levine and a May 20 concert by the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. The 2012-2013 season is expected to be announced in February.
The announcement relieves the opera house of having continually to find replacements and removes a lingering cloud of uncertainty because of Mr. Levine’s health problems. However, it does not resolve the larger issue of establishing a strong, present artistic leader.
Mr. Levine said that although he was making progress and had an excellent prognosis, his complete recovery was unpredictable. After discussions with Peter Gelb, the general manager, and other Met officials, he said, “we have come to the conclusion that it would be profoundly unfair to the public and the Met company to announce a conducting schedule for me that may have to be altered at a later date,” Mr. Levine said.
“I do not want to risk having to withdraw from performances after the season has been announced and tickets sold,” Mr. Levine said. “With that in mind, I have reluctantly decided not to schedule performances until I am certain I can fulfill such obligations.” The Met is finalizing next season, he said, and “The best conductors available must be contracted now.”