Rhoda Levine, Opera Director of Landmark Premieres, Dies at 93

Rhoda Levine, a pioneering American opera director who worked steadily from the 1970s and was known for clear, straightforward stagings, died on Jan. 6 at her home in Manhattan. She was 93. Her death was announced by her nephew, Jonathan Levine. Starting out at a time when the field was dominated by men, Ms.

Levine insisted on directing singers as actors and favored a kind of realism in opera. She was described in the not-yet-released documentary "An Uncommon Woman" as having broken new ground; Marc Scorca, the former president of Opera America, said in the film that much of today’s vibrant opera scene owes a great deal to her work.

Ms. Levine directed a wide range of repertoire and was closely associated with premieres of politically charged modern works. She staged the premiere of Viktor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis at Netherlands Opera in 1975 and helped develop and directed Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X at New York City Opera in 1986.

She told The New York Times in 1990, "I guess I am drawn to political operas," adding that sometimes what is considered political "is in all opera." Critics and colleagues noted her premium on lucidity and dramatic clarity in both new works and standard repertoire. Born Rhoda Jane Levine in Manhattan on June 15, 1932, and raised in Queens, she graduated from Bard College in 1953 and began her career in dance and choreography before turning to opera directing.

Key Topics

Culture, Rhoda Levine, Netherlands Opera, City Opera, Viktor Ullmann, Anthony Davis