Peter G. Davis marvels at the James Levine phenomenon: “Not since the days of Arturo Toscanini has a conductor been so extolled in the local press as a musician without flaw.” But Davis wonders why: “Despite his ubiquity, Levine’s musical personality remains, for some of us at least, just as mysterious as his private nature. I’ve read the raves over the years, but I can’t recall one that attempted to describe, let alone analyze, the specific nature of his interpretive aims and how they change our perception of the music.”