Symphony director's kidney cancer removed

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A growth on a kidney removed from conductor James Levine was malignant, but doctors say the cancer was caught early and no further treatment is needed, the Boston Symphony Orchestra said in a statement Tuesday.

Doctors in New York removed the right kidney last week because the growth was causing pressure and discomfort for Levine, 65, music director of both the BSO and the Metropolitan Opera.

The surgery forced him to miss the remainder of the BSO's Tanglewood season.

Levine's brother, Tom Levine, said in the statement that doctors found a malignant growth, but it was very small and confined.

"Fortunately, as the growth was discovered early enough, it had not spread to the surrounding tissues, blood vessels or lymph nodes. Doctors reported the surgery was completely curative and no further treatment is necessary," Tom Levine said.

He said his brother was relieved by the doctors' report, in good spirits recuperating at home and looking forward to conducting the opening events of the 2008-09 seasons of the BSO and the Met in September.

Levine, who conducts while seated on a chair, has had some health problems in recent years. He has sciatica, and in March 2006 he tore his right rotator cuff when he tripped and fell on the stage of Boston's Symphony Hall during ovations that followed a performance.

He has been music director of the BSO since 2004 and music or artistic director of the Met since 1976. He made his Met debut in 1971.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

All About Classical Music • Kidney Cancer