Now Suzuki bans Cleveland concertmaster

Now Suzuki bans Cleveland concertmaster

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norman lebrecht

October 31, 2018

The Washington Post reports that William Preucil, fired by the Cleveland Orchestra for sexual misdemeanours, is to be replaced on Suzuki tutorial recordings used by many children.

The publisher of the recordings said: ‘We take the allegations of sexual misconduct that have been made against violinist William Preucil, Jr. extremely seriously, and we are dismayed at the findings of the investigation conducted on behalf of the Cleveland Orchestra. To that end, we will work closely with the International Suzuki Association and will replace our current Suzuki Violin School recordings with new recordings as soon as possible.’

Read on here.

Comments

  • HUY says:

    Fucking idiots

  • Mike Schachter says:

    What is to be gained by replacing him in the recordings? Would young people be contaminated hearing him? Orwell was very prescient.

    • Thomasina says:

      Because no one wants to pay a commission to him?

    • MacroV says:

      I, too, question the point, but it’s not Orwell, FCOL. Suzuki apparently feels its reputation will be harmed by a continuing connection to Mr. Preucil. It’s not declaring that it never heard of him, or never had an association with him (and punishing anyone who says they did).

  • boringfileclerk says:

    It has also been announced by Cleveland Utilities that Mr. Preucil will not longer have access to running water and electricity.

  • Roger says:

    A deviate who said he gropes women and who screwed a porn star as his wife was arriving home with their newborn got elected POTUS. Maybe we should start with him?

    • Mark says:

      Beacuse the bitter old lady who’s defended her philandering old hound of a husband for decades and has called his accusers “sluts” was so much better ?

      • Bill says:

        Some of us are less concerned with either candidate’s history in that regard, but think that the other candidate had a lot more going on upstairs than the Great Trumpkin does.

        You, of course, vote the straight frat boy ticket, no surprise there.

  • Mick the Knife says:

    I separate art from the artist and proud of it.

  • David K. Nelson says:

    This seems rather silly to me — a form of “MeToo” one-upsmanship. Now even just being in the presence of a recording is to be placed at risk? Really? My regard for the Suzuki method, although not as dismissive as Isaac Stern’s, knows bounds as it is – generations being taught with trash editions. Perhaps the excellent violinist Kyoko Takezawa will be asked to record the remakes of the Suzuki books, since she too was taught in the Suzuki method. That would actually be a step up from Preucil, good as he is.

    • Bill says:

      It’s not that students exposed to the recording are being victimized or anything like that. Rather, the Suzuki institution strongly encourages everyone to buy the canonical recorded performances of the stuff in the books, and puts the name of the performer on the books. They don’t wish to be associated with him now, and they don’t want to be in the position of asking the parents of these kids to buy recordings of someone who chose to behave this way with other students. I’m sure hiring him to do the recordings seemed like a great idea at the time – his family name has long been associated with Suzuki in the United States, and there’s no question that he can play the charts. No doubt they would have found someone else if they’d heard even a hint of this behavior.

  • CelloFellow says:

    Of course it makes sense to replace him on the recordings. Especially as a lot of the sexual misconduct was with his students, it is wholly inappropriate for his playing to be used in pedagogical materials. Additionally, Doris Preucil has spent the majority of her life dedicated to Suzuki and it is completely unfair for there to even be the slightest chance of sullying her reputation by name association within her field.

  • Concerned Human says:

    Does anyone know where I can buy CD copies of Preucil’s Suzuki recordings?

    These are going to be priceless some day.

    • Bill says:

      No, they’re not. Way too many of them sold over the years. As soon as the going price is more than a few bucks, plenty of supply will emerge to meet the demand.

      • Concerned Human says:

        You discount the number of people down the road who will want a tangible piece of history from the Mass Hysteria era.

        • Bill says:

          Well, maybe the smart play for you is to cash in your retirement account and do a bulk buy from Alfred Music. I’m sure they will be happy to take your money, and if you buy up all the commercially available supply, you can get started promptly on driving up the aftermarket price!

          After you make a killing on the Preucil CDs, don’t forget to approach CIM and TCO about endowing chairs in his name. Gotta give back, right?

    • David K. Nelson says:

      Before Preucil, the Suzuki recordings featured David Nadien. I’d put my money there.

    • Jack says:

      You like his interpretation of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” that much??

  • Bill says:

    Another misleading headline, no one is banning his recordings, or collecting them to be destroyed. They simply want to sell recordings made by someone who hasn’t been fired for inappropriate sexual conduct with students, and are taking steps to make that possible.

    If you want to support Preucil in his time of need, you can still buy his recordings at the publisher’s website, alfred.com. Mark should have plenty of funds available for that, as he is refusing to donate to the Met over the Levine matter. Though given what we’ve seen from him, I’m skeptical that he was ever a true donor.

    • Sharon says:

      Speaking of Levine, I understand that he has been completely reinstated on Met Opera radio –but that was after public outcry. People will not care so much who is on instructional recordings

    • Mark says:

      Billy, didn’t your mommy and daddy every teach you that counting other people’s money is a loser’s favorite pastime ? Of course, it is to be expected from a Democrat.
      My best regards to the oh-so-intelligent Grandma Hildybeast. Btw, she still isn’t President and never will be.

  • I never felt that his interpretation of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” was definitive anyway.

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