Bocelli lets rip for Domingo

Bocelli lets rip for Domingo

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norman lebrecht

November 13, 2019

The Italian tenor has told the Associated Press that its reporting about Placido Domingo is ‘absurd’.

‘I am still appalled at what happened to this incredible artist,’ he said ‘I don’t understand this. Tomorrow a lady can just come up and say Andrea Bocelli molested me 10 years ago, and from that day on, no one wants to sing with me anymore; the opera houses won’t call me anymore. This is absurd.’

Bocelli said there are two kinds of judgement for an artist: ‘One is the moral one, which must be dealt with in courts and here on Earth and by our good Lord up in the skies. Then there is an artistic judgment, which is subjective, and up to each one of us.’

 

Comments

  • Cantantelirico says:

    The real question is “why are they calling you at all?”
    Your voice is a molestation to ear and an assault of the senses.

  • V. Lind says:

    Oh, very profound, Mr. Bocelli. FYI, moral judgments have in fact very little place in courts. And workplace accusations don’t either. Doesn’t make workplace misbehaviour okay.

    And in all this, nobody has been challenging Mr. D. as an artist. (He has often enough been carped at in these forums for carrying on, both as a conductor and as a would-be baritone, but all that seems to have been retired lately). European companies that still value him have been welcoming, and to that extent Andrea B is right. It is their judgment. But let’s not pretend that invitations were withdrawn in the US because the companies suddenly reconsidered his artistic ability.

    As for the good Lord up in the skies, I leave that to the two principals involved.

  • Mustafa Kandan says:

    I am not a Bocelli fan, but what he says is absolutely true.

  • anon says:

    “One is the moral one, which must be dealt with in courts and here on Earth and by our good Lord up in the skies”

    Courts deal with legal judgments, not moral ones. (Gods, if they exist, deal with moral ones.)

    But men also deal with moral judgments, all the time, outside of court, and not having to apply the standards of courts.

    Parents do it all the time: parents punish their children without having to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, without having to call witnesses, without having to provide an attorney to their children to cross examine the witnesses.

    Neighbors do it. If you think you’re neighbor is a pedophile, you’re not going to let him near your child just because you can’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, just because your suspected neighbor has a presumption of innocence. You’d be the world’s biggest idiot to let him play with your kid, to let his presumption of innocence prime over your kid’s safety.

    And likewise, employers make moral judgments to protect their employees and themselves all the time, without having to apply the rules of court.

    To paraphrase “the Lord”: Render onto Cesar (the courts) what is Cesar’s ONLY. We don’t need courts to make valid, correct moral judgments of our own.

    • Gustav says:

      I think it is very petty of you to make fun of the ignorance of man that has not had a chance to read a book since age 12.

  • syc0rax says:

    Bocelli is perhaps right about that: “‘One is the moral one, which must be dealt with in courts …” The question only is: If Domingo is as innocent as he and his believers would make us believe, why didn’t he sue?
    It would be rather simple for him: He’d just have to cal his lawyers and tell them to sue die associated press for libel. Then the Associated Press would need to put their cards on the table. I don’t know how the American law handles such cases – in Germany journalists have the right not to name their witnesses. However, they must prove the truth of what they had printed.
    In a case like this the question about the love life of the accuser is not to avoid – and I think that’s the reason why Domingo didn”t sue. He knows what would happen then: Even more ladies would come around, even more people would say that the entire scene know about his harassment of young women and how he used his power.
    I think the fact that Domingo delivered only rather lame statement in which he doesn’t deny he had many affairs says a lot – and Bocelli makes himself even more the laughing stock with his (rather late) attempt to save Domingo’s reputation.

    And there’s something more: “the opera houses won’t call me anymore …” Which opera house calls for Bocelli? The man’s as far away from being an opera singer as I am, the only difference is: I know that I can’t sing properly …

    • Al says:

      Just sayin, Maestro Bocelli is one of THE most sought after INTERNATIONAL singers in the world. He has somehow been able to deftly go from Opera to Ballads and more, which not many singers can do. He speaks at LEAST 3 languages. Plays an insane amount of different instruments and has had a continuous touring schedule for YEARS. Yes, I am a fan. Yes, its obvious. But please dont throw out such blatant inaccuracies like that. Also, he had spoken out before when this first came out, so it is a mistake, an understandable one, that you thot this was his first dealings with this. Dont get me wrong, i think its putrid that men/women of influence take advantage of their situations and sleep around. Makes me puke. But i think that if your friend was accused of something so heinous, youd defend them and wait for the courts to decide. It shows loyalty, but not at the cost of condoning that persons actions if they are convicted. And Maestro Bocelli said as much. Go thru due process, get all the info out, then decide. Fun fact, Andrea Bocelli practiced law before going full time into music. I wish you the best. Thank you for letting me speak my peace.

    • Andy G says:

      It is enought to look at your picture profile to understand why you hate successfull, talented, handsome men :-))))) Domingo is innocent until proven guilty, these 2 american sluts are just liers. Only people without brain can believe that non proof bull shit.

      • Dishinit says:

        Andy G–
        Before commenting on someone else’s appearance, please post a photo of yourself. Also, if you can say “these 2 american sluts are just liers [sic]” and “only people without [a] brain can believe that non proof bull shit”, I can say that you are an ignorant ass.

        • Lynne says:

          With people like Andy G in the world, people wonder why the unnamed women don’t feel they can’t give their names?

  • justice says:

    yes, of course.

  • This isn’t a matter of law or even morality. It’s a matter of administration. When 20 women complain of sexual harassment, it is more than enough reason for administrators to sanction an employee or guest artist for fundamentally unprofessional behavior.

    • Marina S says:

      There are only 2 women, other 18 dont exist. And these 2 women dont have any proof. They are liers. They didnt come to police or courte.
      They just got money for posting that bull shit, as they are losers and couldnt earn money by singing.

      • V. Lind says:

        What money? AP does not pay for news. NOBODY HAS ACCUSED DOMINGO OF ANYTHING REQUIRING POLICE OR THE COURTS.

        Your post is so illiterate and unreasoned I refuse to address any more.

      • Nick2 says:

        In previous threads on the subject of PD’s behavior, I have clearly stated that I witnessed two other instances if sexual harassment, both also witnessed by two other senior British arts administrators. And I only worked with the tenor on two occasions!

      • sycorax says:

        You don’t have a glue how an international press agency like the Associated Press works. There isn’t any money to get for being a witness to something, so your entire theory is pure, unadultery bs.
        Besides: Just because a woman doesn’t want her name published doesnt make her a liar. Considerinng how far women like you go to defend their idol, I do understand every woman who wants to remain anonymously.

      • TubaMinimum says:

        Your typos and repetitive points suggest that you are also the Andy G in this comment section.

      • sycorax says:

        At least three – the German magazine “Spiegel” hat a former Sony employee complaining about Domingo being intusive, too.
        Besides and for the 126th time in this thread: The Associated Press have the names and adresses of their 20 anonym witnesses. They’d never risk to print such an articles without making sure it would stand in a court of law.
        And for the 127th time: How does one make money without suing and without giving the name out?

        But as I’ve said a few times before: I hope there’s a special hell for women like you who fell other women in the back – and all over a man from whom the entire scene knew his wife was the best-cheated at in the scene and one shouldn’t let a young woman alone with him! I was a 20 year old music student in Stuttgart and as I was invited to a festival where PD was announced, three people (including my teacher, first bassoon in Stuttgart and Bayreuth) warned me.

    • antibanders says:

      Let’s rephrase that, William?

      ” When one individual registers 20 different sockpuppet accounts, it only goes to discredit their deranged narrative.””

      There, that’s better now.

      • sycorax says:

        And you believe that you, clever and smart as you are, know what a sock puppet is while the AP who’s risking its reputation on it, doesn’t get it?
        You obviously have no glue, how a press agency works (and before you ask: Yes I do I’ve worked for the AP and for the German Spiegel).

    • Anna Y says:

      Where did you found 20 women??? I know only mrs. Wolf and miss Wilson. Their accusations are ridiculous. Even more. Wilson’s accusation was rejected by a witness. So what are you talking about??? Just words of imaginary friends of greedy journalists. No evidences. If I tell that you harassed me, is my word enough to get you out of your job and call you predator? I even can ask my friends to accuse you. But does it mean that you are guilty?

      • The first AP article said that 8 women had made complaints. A follow up article said 12 more women had made complaints for a total of 20. It is highly improbable that a major news service like AP would make this up.

  • àntibandera says:

    Only the anonymous ghouls are left pursuing Domingo now.

    Just watch while they all sign in below!

  • Gustavo says:

    It’ a witchhunt!

    Tell that to the judge in the morning…

  • Olga says:

    It’s witch hunt…it’s american shame..buuuu..blind Bochelli has no reason to lie..Bravo, Maestro Bochelli..You are so right!

  • Rob says:

    “Ask no questions, and you’ll be told no lies.” CD.

  • Victoria says:

    My admiration to Mr. Bocelli for speaking out for Domingo. Interesting that the interview came out the same day Salzburg announced its program for next year with prominent inclusion of Domingo scheduled to sing a major Verdi role. Rational thinking and rational behaviors still exist. Hope they prevail.

    • We privatize your value says:

      Domingo should not sing any major roles any more, Verdi or not. For one (1) reason : he is an old man with a degraded voice who should have retired many years ago, because he has lost all his freshness and all his vigour.

      • Betty says:

        You cant decide what Mr Domingo should do. Domingo is the greatest opera singer of nowtime and you are just nothng. Shut up your dirty mouth. We are happy to see Him on stage. And we dont care what you think.

        • We privatize your value says:

          First, I am not nothing. Secondly, Domingo is certainly not the greatest opera singer of “nowtime”. Whatever your bosses in Saint-Petersburg tell you. Speaking about dirty mouths, I think a Russian troll should look in his bathroom mirror before, or better instead of, posting nonsense…

        • sycorax says:

          Is that “we” a pluralis majestatis or are you really believing you speak for a majority?
          Just to inform you: I know a lot of musicians. I’m married to a (retired) singer, I once studied music myself, our son is at the Julliard. Among these musicians in our circle of friends isn’t a single one who’d miss Domingo if he’d finally retire. Just on the contrary.
          My husband retired and after his last concert people said: “I don’t understand why he retires. His voice is still great and he looks fine.”
          He’s indeed still in good voice, but he always said he wouldn’t do a Domingo. He would’t wait until people say: “Oh hell, he was once so good and now he’s just embarassing. He should have stopped years before …” He rather hears “Pity that he doesn’t work anymore.”

  • Lynne says:

    There are people commenting on this forum who believe that a respected news source made up 18 people in order to print a false story about an opera singer. I am not often speechless.

    • Lora says:

      Yes, AP News got money for their article about Domingo. It is not a secret.

    • sycorax says:

      It only shows their ignorance. They don’t have the slightest glue who the AP is and how such an international agency works.

      I was once working as a free lancer for the AP. But even as a free lancer you’ll learn already with the first text you deliver how penible their documentation department works. There are a lot of lawyers, specialised on press law and a lot of historians, political scientists and other specialist who do nothing else as checking the article before they become published.
      They know that every correction they would have to make in public would damage the agency’s reputation and would make the lose a lot of “calls” (that’s how its named when a newspaper or a magazine prints a text delivered by AP).

      Besides people here should get that out there Domingo isn’t very important. He’s perhaps the most famous opera singer of our times, but if you go out on the streets and ask people if they knew him a big majority won’t know him. He just is the “king” in a very small kingdom – and an article about him doesn’t bring AP so many calls that they would risk something for it. They are sure that they could prove every word in a court of law – and that’s probably the reason why Domingo didn’t sue. His lawyers probably told him he wouldn’t want the AP to prove the accusations because he could only lose.

  • Lena says:

    Nailed it. Thank you, Andrea.

  • Domingo is innocent and 20 women (as reported by AP) are liars. Patriarchy and classical music at its usual. Interesting to see it so thoroughly documents on SD.

  • Dani says:

    This whole affair about Placido Domingo is nothing more than an unfortunate witch hunt orchestrated by the hater of men Witchfinder General Debra Katz supported by the most radical part of MeToo, the lesbian fascists haters, as this paragraph of the wonderful quilette article tells: ‘Debra Katz, a high profile sex discrimination lawyer who represents Patricia Wulf, announced that Domingo’s resignation from LA Opera was “an important and welcome step in the effort to end sexual misconduct by powerful men in the opera industry.” Katz had failed to keep Brett Kavanaugh off the Supreme Court on behalf of another client, Christine Blasey Ford, so Domingo’s scalp must have been a welcome consolation prize. Katz had earlier lit into Peter Gelb for his failure to cave immediately to the pressure to eject Domingo from the Met stage. The “more than 20 women who were sexually harassed by Mr. Domingo” deserve the public and the arts world’s “respect and appreciation” for their “pain and indignity,” Katz told Gelb in a letter, not the “victim shaming” that Gelb had allegedly engaged in by stating that the allegations against Domingo were uncorroborated. Patricia Wulf presented herself as a heroic whistleblower: “I feel at peace knowing that speaking publicly is leading to changes that will hopefully protect the next generation of women in the industry.”’
    This other paragraph of the article says it all: “Here is the reality of Domingo’s world: It is shot through with sexual energy and tension. Performers and staff work long hours in an enterprise requiring the passion and willpower to conquer some of the most challenging works in the musical repertoire. Put males and females in any high-pressure, close-contact situation, and Eros will make an immediate appearance—just ask the spouses of lawyers in white shoe law firms or of soldiers in gender-integrated Army barracks. In the performing arts, filled with oversized personalities and appetites, the erotic currents are particularly headstrong. Females threw themselves at Domingo. Young fans pled with his assistants to get their phone numbers into his hands. Wealthy socialites tried to arrange affairs. Singers sought out liaisons. Many of their advances were unwelcome. Does that make his suitors harassers? This kind of female behavior is routinely excised from the #MeToo narrative that presents a world apparently composed exclusively of male rapists and female victims, and which declines to acknowledge the billions of dollars that women invest annually in make-up and clothes they hope will make them more desirable to the opposite sex.” My absolute support for the women in the real world who are really being harrassed, abused and even murdered as one of the most serious problems that humanity suffers these days.

    • sycorax says:

      Tl dr …
      Just one word: I don’t hate men. I’m happily married, adore my man and a few others, too. But I despise men like Domingo who use their power to go after women who aren’t interested in them.

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