Leading orchestra fires conductor ANNE MIDGETT and PEGGY McGLONE
Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw reacts to allegations of sexual harassment
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, widely considered one of the leading orchestras in the world, said Thursday it is terminating its relationship with its chief conductor, Daniele Gatti, as a result of revelations published last week by The Washington Post.
“On 26 July, The Washington Post published an article in which Gatti was accused of inappropriate behaviour,” the orchestra wrote in a media release. “These accusations and Gatti’s reactions with this respect have caused a lot of commotion among both musicians and staff, as well as stakeholders both at home and abroad.
“Besides this,” it said, “since the publication of the article in The Washington Post, a number of female colleagues of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra reported experiences with Gatti, which are inappropriate considering his position as chief conductor. This has irreparably damaged the relationship of trust between the orchestra and its chief conductor.”
The article alleged that Gatti had attacked two women in his dressing room in 1996 and 2000: She found “his hands on my rear end, and his tongue down my throat,” said the soprano Alicia Berneche.
Since the article was published, the authors have heard from other women who made it clear that this behaviour had continued. “Gatti’s horrible assault technique was described perfectly,” said one female musician with a leading orchestra.
After the article came out, Gatti hired a new U.S. public relations firm called Reputation Doctor, headed by Mike Paul, through whom he issued an apology to every woman he had ever met.
“To all the women I have met in my entire life,” the apology said, “especially those who believe I did not treat them with the utmost respect and dignity they certainly deserve, I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart.”
It continued: “Today and moving forward, I plan to focus much more on my behaviours and actions with all women. This includes women both young and old, to be sure no woman ever feels uncomfortable ever again, especially women that I work with in my profession in classical music. I am truly sorry.”
Evidently, it was not enough.
The three men accused in the article have suffered public consequences for what are alleged to be years of misbehaviour. Bernard Uzan, the stage director and artist’s manager whom four women accused of harassing and assaulting them, announced Tuesday that he was quitting opera.
And William Preucil, the concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, accused of assaulting a violinist in his hotel room and other inappropriate behaviour, resigned from his teaching post at the Cleveland Institute of Music, was terminated from a visiting post at Furman University and had several concerts cancelled. His orchestra has placed him on paid suspension pending the outcome of its own internal investigation.
“All concerts planned with Daniele Gatti will proceed with other conductors,” the Concertgebouw said. This includes a scheduled performance in Washington on the orchestra’s U.S. tour. The Concertgebouw is set to perform at the Kennedy Center on Feb. 13.