James Levine hurt his back - and has to pull out of rest of the year Schedule at the Met

James Levine to Miss Met Fall Season Because of New Back Injury

James Levine, the Metropolitan Opera’s music director, has withdrawn from all performances at the Met for the rest of the year after falling while on vacation in Vermont and damaging a vertebra, the house said on Tuesday. Mr. Levine had emergency surgery on Thursday and was to have begun rehearsals on Monday. The injury comes on top of a series of back operations followed by periods of rehabilitation to correct a painful spinal condition, called stenosis.

While the Met said Mr. Levine would remain music director, it immediately elevated its principal guest conductor, Fabio Luisi, to the title of principal conductor and handed over to him most of Mr. Levine’s fall conducting assignments.
Read More:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/james-levine-withdraws-from-met-fall-season/?emc=na