Opera boss departed over #MeToo issues

Opera boss departed over #MeToo issues

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norman lebrecht

May 18, 2018

There was mild surprise a couple of weeks back when William Florescu walked out on the Florentine Opera Company of Milwaukee after 13 years of doing a decent job, and with a contract taking him forward to 2024.

Now, with the following statement, the company has blown a personnel issue into headline news:

Since the announcement of William Florescu’s resignation from the Florentine Opera Company on May 9, 2018, we have received information previously unknown to the company regarding Mr. Florescu’s conduct in the workplace. Having learned this additional information, we feel that greater transparency is critical in order to move forward with promoting the positive work culture that we expect. For that reason, we wish to make clear that Mr. Florescu’s resignation was related to his violation of the Florentine Opera’s policies and prohibitions concerning sexual misconduct.

We take any complaint of such misconduct seriously, investigate it thoroughly and impartially and act with purpose and urgency to hold those who violate the values of the Florentine Opera accountable.

Comments

  • C Porumbescu says:

    Wonder if we’ll hear anything similar from any UK companies…or are the gagging clauses too watertight?

  • MWnyc says:

    Norman, don’t forget to correct the error in the first sentence of your previous post on this. The Florentine Opera is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, not Minnesota. (Or you could just change “Minnesota” to “Milwaukee”.)

  • Barry Guerrero says:

    Ehhhh, close enough. It’s still ‘up there’, somewhere. Lakes, cows and snow.

  • Jaime Herrera says:

    I don’t know what all the fuss is about. I think this METOO thing is a fad – another way to get back at people who now annoy you. I myself would never force myself on anyone, male, female, or animal; however, these were standard practices, especially among artistic people, going all the way back to the year 5000 BC. Nobody ever said anything before about it. As they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

  • David says:

    I have known him since college, nearly 40 years ago, though we hadn’t been in touch for the last three or four due to inertia and being busy. A fellow Vaughan Williams aficionado, with whom I shared many a listening session and a cold beverage back in the day. I wish I knew what to think. I am in shock tonight, having only learned this news through the newer Washington Post piece.

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