After graduation from the Juilliard School, Levine became Georg Szell 's assistant at the Cleveland Orchestra and continued in that post for six years, while at the same time conducting the student orchestra at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He was then invited to conduct a single performance of PUCCINI's Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, on June 5, 1971, during the post-season period. In 1972, Levine conducted a performance of Verdi's Luisa Miller at the Met,...