Conductor expected to recover

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 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 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 a statement that 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.