Gatti and Royal Concertgebouw part company
Chief conductor’s tenure in Amsterdam ends following allegations of misconduct
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is on the hunt for a new chief conductor after parting company with Daniele Gatti over allegations of inappropriate behaviour. The renowned Amsterdam ensemble revealed that it had decided to dispense with the 56-year-old Italian’s services in the light of an article in the Washington Post in late-july reporting indiscretions made by him in 1996 and 2000.
‘The 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,’ read a statement issued by the orchestra. ‘Besides this, since the publication of the article, 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 chief conductor.’
In the Washington Post article, which was reporting on misconduct across the classical music industry as a whole, sopranos Alicia Berneche and Jeannemichèle Charbonnet explained how they had found themselves the victims of unwanted advances by Gatti during professional engagements in Chicago and Bologna respectively. Both told friends about the incidents at the time, but were afraid to report them officially for fear of damaging their careers.
Gatti has been with the Royal Concertgebouw since September 2016, only the eighth chief conductor in the orchestra’s 130-year history. Before that, he also held principal conductor or music director positions at the Orchestra dell’accademia Nazionale di Santa
Cecilia in Rome, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestre National de France among other posts. In a statement published in the Washington Post article, he said that ‘Every time I have approached someone, I have always done it fully convinced that the interest was mutual. The facts referred to took place a long time ago, but if I have offended anyone, I sincerely apologise.’
In the short term, the Royal Concertgebouw has invited its former chief conductor Bernard ★aitink plus Kerem ★asan, Manfred ★oneck and Thomas ★engelbrock to take over the concerts that Gatti was scheduled to conduct at the beginning of the 2018/9 season. It has yet to reveal when the process of appointing a permanent replacement will begin.