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.

A studio recording made for Deutsche Grammophon in 1987–1989 can be found on compact disc and a 1989 live performance of the Ring is available on DVD. At the Met Levine has led numerous new productions of works of Mozart Verdi Richard Wagner Richard Strauss Gioachino Rossini Arnold Schoenberg Igor Stravinsky Kurt Weill Claude Debussy Alban Berg and George Gershwin. Chamber Music and Work as Accompanist
Levine has performed in chamber music ensembles and as accompanist in Lieder recitals.

He is best known for his four decades as Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera. Since May 2011 he has been on hiatus from that position due to multiple health problems.