It wasn't that I ever knew I'd be at the Met for 20 years, or 30 years, or 40 years, or anything like that.
James Levine

My hunch is that probably men are doing more both outside the home and inside the home.
James Levine

A lot of people get impatient with the pace of change.
James Levine

Most people treat the office manual the way they treat a software manual. They never look at it.
James Levine

It has to be able to play at the maximum expression and communication in every style, and the only way you can do that is - like Verdi said - working with a file, every day, little by little, until the orchestra's collective qualities emerge.
James Levine

More and more couples are having this negotiation or discussion, but I'm still amazed at the number who aren't and where the cultural norm sort of kicks in and they just assume that mom's got to be the one who stays home, not dad.
James Levine

So, the total number of hours spent on the stuff you have to do to take care of a family, working and caring for stuff at home, the total number of hours is actually about the same for mothers and fathers.
James Levine

And so, little by little, I gradually divested myself of pretty nearly all of the guest conducting I used to do, because I was at the same time working in the places like the Met, where I could work in this sort of depth.
James Levine