The authorities in Thailand have dropped all proceedings against the Russian conductor and pianist, Mikhail Pletnev, who had been accused of procuring under-age boys for sexual purposes and one instance of alleged rape. Pletnev, founder and conductor of the Russian National Orchestra denied the accusations, but was forced to cancel international engagements during the second half of this year while living on bail in his Thai home. He was never formally charged.

A short statement today from his orchestra’s PR agency (below) says the case was dropped two months ago and Pletnev resumed his public career earlier this month in Moscow, and is about to embark on a European tour with the violinist Gidon Kremer.
The case has been clouded by rumours of Russian mafia vendettas and Thai military corruption, none of which could be substantiated. Local newspapers report that the police are continuing to make arrests in a child prostitution ring allegedly uncovered by the investigation of the Pletnev case.
 
Here’s today’s press release:
Investigation into the accusations made against Mikhail Pletnev closed
without
charge by Thai authorities
The Thai authorities informed us that the investigation surrounding the
founder and music director of the Russian National Orchestra, Mr Mikhail
Pletnev, was terminated on September 28 2010 and no charges were made to the
Thai Court. Mr. Pletnev?s bail was lifted in October, and returned to him in
late November.
Mr. Pletnev has always refuted the accusations made against him. He has
been fully cooperative during Thai authorities? investigations. Under the
conditions of his bail he returned to the Thai beach resort of Pattaya (where
Mr. Pletnev has owned a property for over a decade) numerous times since early
July, to show his presence as instructed by the Pattaya District
Court.
Russian National Orchestra celebrates its 20th anniversary
On November 5th 2010
the Russian National Orchestra celebrated its 20
th anniversary with a gala
concert in Moscow, conducted by Kent Nagano and Mikhail Pletnev. This December
the RNO embarks on a large tour of Europe under the baton of Mikhail Pletnev,
and with soloist Gidon Kremer. The tour will take the orchestra to Budapest,
Baden-Baden, Paris, Essen, K?ln, Brussels and other European
cities.
The RNO is renowned for its work with today?s leading conductors and
soloists and is recognised as being amongst the world?s top orchestras. About
half of the orchestra?s annual concerts are performed by accomplished conductors
such as Kent Nagano, Ingo Metzmacher, Charles Dutoit, Semyon Bychkov,
Vladimir Jurowski, Vasily Petrenko or Vassily Sinaisky. For further information
please visit the RNO?s official website (www.rno.ru).

The authorities in Thailand have dropped all proceedings against the Russian conductor and pianist, Mikhail Pletnev, who had been accused of procuring under-age boys for sexual purposes and one instance of alleged rape. Pletnev, founder and conductor of the Russian National Orchestra denied the accusations, but was forced to cancel international engagements during the second half of this year while living on bail in his Thai home. He was never formally charged.

A short statement today from his orchestra’s PR agency (below) says the case was dropped two months ago and Pletnev resumed his public career earlier this month in Moscow, and is about to embark on a European tour with the violinist Gidon Kremer.
The case has been clouded by rumours of Russian mafia vendettas and Thai military corruption, none of which could be substantiated. Local newspapers report that the police are continuing to make arrests in a child prostitution ring allegedly uncovered by the investigation of the Pletnev case.
 
Here’s today’s press release:
Investigation into the accusations made against Mikhail Pletnev closed
without
charge by Thai authorities
The Thai authorities informed us that the investigation surrounding the
founder and music director of the Russian National Orchestra, Mr Mikhail
Pletnev, was terminated on September 28 2010 and no charges were made to the
Thai Court. Mr. Pletnev?s bail was lifted in October, and returned to him in
late November.
Mr. Pletnev has always refuted the accusations made against him. He has
been fully cooperative during Thai authorities? investigations. Under the
conditions of his bail he returned to the Thai beach resort of Pattaya (where
Mr. Pletnev has owned a property for over a decade) numerous times since early
July, to show his presence as instructed by the Pattaya District
Court.
Russian National Orchestra celebrates its 20th anniversary
On November 5th 2010
the Russian National Orchestra celebrated its 20
th anniversary with a gala
concert in Moscow, conducted by Kent Nagano and Mikhail Pletnev. This December
the RNO embarks on a large tour of Europe under the baton of Mikhail Pletnev,
and with soloist Gidon Kremer. The tour will take the orchestra to Budapest,
Baden-Baden, Paris, Essen, K?ln, Brussels and other European
cities.
The RNO is renowned for its work with today?s leading conductors and
soloists and is recognised as being amongst the world?s top orchestras. About
half of the orchestra?s annual concerts are performed by accomplished conductors
such as Kent Nagano, Ingo Metzmacher, Charles Dutoit, Semyon Bychkov,
Vladimir Jurowski, Vasily Petrenko or Vassily Sinaisky. For further information
please visit the RNO?s official website (www.rno.ru).

The mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly has opened a new line of defence for Alma Mahler in today’s Guardian newspaper. 

Avoiding the feminist argument that Alma was the victim of male tyranny when she agreed to stop composing as a precondition for marrying Mahler, Connolly accepts that Alma was complicit in suppressing her creative urge. She could have refused the demand and sent Mahler packing. But so keen was her desire to be hitched to celebrity that she would have given up anything – almost – in order to become the first and only Mrs Mahler.
Connolly’s perception accords with the vivid truths to be found in Alma’s raw diaries, a far cry from the victim model that she presented in her Mahler memoirs, an image perpetuated by Ken Russell’s Mahler biodoc and many uncritical studies.
Alma’s urge to compose was not strong – she never wrote music again after Mahler died or when he, still alive, encouraged her to start again, as I describe in Why Mahler? She openly questions her need to compose in the diaries. Connolly takes the view that Alma’s cessation was unfortunate, not tragic. But she finds that the songs – which she will sing Sunday at the Barbican in orchestrations by Colin and David Matthews –  possess ‘a rare gift of melody.’ The are, she writes, ‘voluptuous, coquettish, Wagnerian in intensity and harmony yet intimate, sensual, charming and surprising’.
That’s quite a heavy load for these simple numbers to bear. Many hands have worked on her material, starting with her teacher (and lover) Zemlinsky, followed by Mahler, Schoenberg and Berg (who did not, as Connolly suggests, join Alma’s list of sexual conquests) and finished off with great skill and polish by the Matthews brothers whose faith in Alma’s powers is, I suspect, as qualified as my own.
There is no genius at work here. Alma’s gift is small and imitative. I struggle to find a phrase of striking originality in any of the 14 extant songs. She owes much to the underrated Zemlinsky and more to the decadent Zeitgeist. Connolly makes a careful case for her work, hedged with ambivalence. And that takes us close to the heart of the Alma problem.
Alma took a bilateral position on everything she touched, whether it was love, life or death. Her diaries often yield contradictory responses, as if she were both inside and outside a situation, unable to resolve her feelings. It was the ambiguity of her emotions that first drew me into Mahler’s world, a counterpoint to his emotional pile-drivers.
I shall listen to Connolly’s latest exhumation of her musical relics with intense, albeit sceptical, interest.
 

The mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly has opened a new line of defence for Alma Mahler in today’s Guardian newspaper. 

Avoiding the feminist argument that Alma was the victim of male tyranny when she agreed to stop composing as a precondition for marrying Mahler, Connolly accepts that Alma was complicit in suppressing her creative urge. She could have refused the demand and sent Mahler packing. But so keen was her desire to be hitched to celebrity that she would have given up anything – almost – in order to become the first and only Mrs Mahler.
Connolly’s perception accords with the vivid truths to be found in Alma’s raw diaries, a far cry from the victim model that she presented in her Mahler memoirs, an image perpetuated by Ken Russell’s Mahler biodoc and many uncritical studies.
Alma’s urge to compose was not strong – she never wrote music again after Mahler died or when he, still alive, encouraged her to start again, as I describe in Why Mahler? She openly questions her need to compose in the diaries. Connolly takes the view that Alma’s cessation was unfortunate, not tragic. But she finds that the songs – which she will sing Sunday at the Barbican in orchestrations by Colin and David Matthews –  possess ‘a rare gift of melody.’ The are, she writes, ‘voluptuous, coquettish, Wagnerian in intensity and harmony yet intimate, sensual, charming and surprising’.
That’s quite a heavy load for these simple numbers to bear. Many hands have worked on her material, starting with her teacher (and lover) Zemlinsky, followed by Mahler, Schoenberg and Berg (who did not, as Connolly suggests, join Alma’s list of sexual conquests) and finished off with great skill and polish by the Matthews brothers whose faith in Alma’s powers is, I suspect, as qualified as my own.
There is no genius at work here. Alma’s gift is small and imitative. I struggle to find a phrase of striking originality in any of the 14 extant songs. She owes much to the underrated Zemlinsky and more to the decadent Zeitgeist. Connolly makes a careful case for her work, hedged with ambivalence. And that takes us close to the heart of the Alma problem.
Alma took a bilateral position on everything she touched, whether it was love, life or death. Her diaries often yield contradictory responses, as if she were both inside and outside a situation, unable to resolve her feelings. It was the ambiguity of her emotions that first drew me into Mahler’s world, a counterpoint to his emotional pile-drivers.
I shall listen to Connolly’s latest exhumation of her musical relics with intense, albeit sceptical, interest.