The general director of the Concertgebouw orchestra, Jan Raes, has given a full and frank interview on the events that led up to the dismissal of the music director on sexual harrassment allegations last summer.
The translation from Dutch in the interview may lose some nuances, but Raes makes it clear that, from the moment the first allegations were raised, he met with Gatti only in the presence of lawyers, a precaution that may have hindered rather than aided the procedure. ‘From day one we have asked for legal advice. No conversation with Gatti was conducted one-on-one.’
He adds that trust broke down between the two sides. ‘The trust quickly melted away, until the final phase, in which Gatti himself broke off the conversation. I do not know why.’
The general director of the Concertgebouw orchestra, Jan Raes, has given a full and frank interview on the events that led up to the dismissal of the music director on sexual harrassment allegations last summer.
The translation from Dutch in the interview may lose some nuances, but Raes makes it clear that, from the moment the first allegations were raised, he met with Gatti only in the presence of lawyers, a precaution that may have hindered rather than aided the procedure. ‘From day one we have asked for legal advice. No conversation with Gatti was conducted one-on-one.’
He adds that trust broke down between the two sides. ‘The trust quickly melted away, until the final phase, in which Gatti himself broke off the conversation. I do not know why.’
The authoritarian Turkish president attended a Friday concert in Ankara by the international pianist Fazil Say, whom he had previously caused to be put on trial for blasphemy.
Erdogan called the pianist last summer with condolences after his mother’s death and has now restored him to the heart of Turkey’s cultural activity.
Mr and Mrs Erdogan at Friday’s concert
The death has been reported of Helmut Bieler, former professor at the University of Bayreuth and founder of the Bayreuth Days of Contemporary Music.
Jessica Nuccio is a rising Italian soprano on the international circuit.
Last week, she was due to sing four Violettas in La traviata at Rome Opera. At the general rehearsal, she obtained permission from the conductor to ‘mark’ her part, not singing out in full voice because it was just 36 hours before the opening.
This did not please the company’s artistic director, Alessio Vlad, who launched into a tirade against Jessica in front of the whole company, an assault so severe that she suffered a panic attack and an ambulance had to be called.
She was then fired from the production. The next day, the theatre demanded that she present a doctor’s note to pretend that she had invalided herself out of the production, which was absolutely not the case. She was fit to sing.
There is no union protection for singers in Italy and no forum in which they can speak out.
Friends of Jessica contacted Slipped Disc without her knowledge to share her experience as a warning to all.
