Domingo is banned in his home country
NewsThe Orchestra of Extremadura, on the borders of Spain and Portugal, have informed Placido Domingo that they will not perform with him as planned in September, or ever again.
The regional government said it was ’embarrassing and regrettable’ that public funds were being used to support an event featuring ‘a person denounced by numerous women as a sexual harasser.’
This is the first sanction to be applied against Domingo in Spain.
It’s worth clarifying that this cancellation is not the orchestra’s doing at all, but a unilateral decision made by the regional government (the orchestra’s main source of funding and also the owner of the venue where the event was to be held).
In fact, it’s striking that I have not seen any Spanish orchestras or soloists stating that they refuse to work with Domingo – only politicians preventing them from doing so whenever they try.
Spanish politicians are smarter than Russian politicians.
Spanish orchestras or soloists are the same as Russian and Viennese ones.
Not to mention more moral and humane. The words “Russian” and “human decency” seem to be almost inevitably counterposed.
Thank goodness someone is doing something to keep an apparently abusive person away from further opportunities to abuse women.
You did say “apparently”, you know.
Domingo is one of the last representatives of this class of dinosaurs luckily close to be extinct, but still is not alone. In the widely quoted Corriere interview, where he was complaining about not recognizing his job anymore, the foolhardy Maestro Riccardo Muti said: “With Metoo, Da Ponte and Mozart would end up in prison”. If we look at this statement closely, we can reflect that those who ended up in prison because of Metoo issues are the likes of Harvey Weinstein.
So what is Maestro Riccardo Muti saying exactly:
That Harvey Weinstein wasn’t a rapist?
That Da Ponte and Mozart were rapists?
That rapists do not belong in jail?
That Metoo is preventing famous musicians from doing what they were always be free to do before, which is harassing young women?
These old musicians are repellent and rotten to the core.
Muti is probably saying that the frivolous and uncomplicated way of dealing with socio-biological conflicts among the sexes, as celebrated in Mozart’s and Daponte’s works, would no longer be permissible today if campaigns of political over-correctness and prudery, like Metoo, would be taken seriously.
You are right, the frivolous way in which Don Giovanni breaks and enters into Donna Anna’s apartments and attempts to rape her would not be permissible today. The uncomplicated way in which he practices polygamy would be unlawful in most societies, as well. Speaking of this iconic character … Don Giovanni, the man who rejects and despises social norms, is a personal hero of Muti.
Muti’s life is the classic open secret. He does not hold off when he speaks to Italian newspapers (the man does not begin to suspect that Google invented the Translate app). And everything he does in Chicago is right in your face.
Today’s breaking news: “Harvey Weinstein has been extradited to Los Angeles to face further sexual assault charges”
ME2 sends the right people to wear orange suits, no matter what Muti and Domingo say or think!
Probably all of the above. It is a feature of “great” minds to hold mutually contradictory statements simultaneously.
Ricardo Muti is an insufferable snob. Back when he was director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, he lived at the Academy House adjacent to The Academy of Music. A friend of mine once got on the elevator with Muti and his personal secretary. My friend offered Muti accolades for his recently released compact disc at which point the secretary intervened demanding, “You do not address the Maestro directly. You may convey your comments to me and I will pass them on to him.” Meanwhile, Muti just stared at the ceiling and totally ignored the compliment.
I am tempted to say that that personal secretary (or body guard) was just doing his job, and if your friend would have encountered Muti in the absence of his personal secretary (or body guard) he would have experienced a relaxed conversation with a witty Italian bon vivant who loves telling anecdotes about Karajan.
Based on the brief the vignette and Muti’s habits … I say your friend interrupted something way more important!?
You mean Don Giovanni was about to add a line to his Leporello?
Muti does not deploy male personal secretaries, or male body guards, for reasons that are more than obvious.
I had a similar experience with Salvatore Accardo. Somebody tried to introduce me to him and he just ignored me. Antipatico.
Good story. I have seen conductors in Montreal twice – Nagano and Zukerman – and I did not say anything to them. They didn’t have bodyguards though.
Assuming Muti is not quoted out of context, I can’t make any sense of his pronouncement. If he meant that some male characters in Mozart’s da Ponte operas would have ended up in jail, well, sure!
The Maestro was banned also in his home country, in Milan we don’t want to see his face. The two signori have many things in common.
Maestro Muti is clearly referring to Don Giovanni and Count Almaviva.
Maestro Muti is clearly thinking of Don Giovanni and Count Almaviva.
Mozart, I would argue, was a couple of centuries ahead of the game. The Marriage of Figaro is a three hour work dedicated to ridiculing and protesting the right of “prima nocta”, in which an aristocrat could take the virginity of his servant’s new wife on the night of their wedding. And “DON” Giovanni – the clue is in the title – is the story of divine retribution for temporal abuses of power. Giovanni, like Camus’s Meursault, refuses to bend when offered the opportunity to seek redemption before god, resolving to take ownership of his fundamental human nature: “Ho già risolto!” For his refusal to elevate himself beyond his primal instincts, he is condemned to eternal fire. The rape of Donna Anna, and his subsequent attempted rape of Zerlina, do not condone rape, rather they describe the abuse of power for which Giovanni will later be condemned. Surely these are 18th century examples of art condemning abuse of power – tapping into the Europe-wide zeitgeist that would lead in 1789 to the fall of the french monarchy – and therefore more relevant than ever.
Another orchestra – Orquesta Filarmónica de España – will accompany Domingo at the concert on September 25. The idiots from the Extremadura government have deprived their orchestra of work. Congratulations! A very “smart” solution!
Yeah, and what exactly do you know about this “Orquesta Filarmonica de Espanya”? How long has it existed, what is their budget, who funds them? No one in Spain has ever heard of them before!
Typical of this type of Spanish pick up band, there is no hiring supervision, no monitoring of working conditions, the musicians are hired per service for substandard or no wages at all and the money the orch is paid to accompany Domingo will go into some fat cat’s pocket.
The “Orquesta Filarmonica de Espanya” is total b**shit.
Get woke go broke.
Administrators taking the opportunity to save his fee?
After Extremadura dropped out, concert organizers were apparently besieged by requests from other orchestras to play this concert.
2 days later they’ve announced the orchestra which will accompany Mr. Domingo. No one’s ever heard of this orchestra, but it sure sounds fancy: “The Orquesta Filarmonica de Espanya”. It’s a gig orchestra. Not full time, full of underpaid or volunteer young players. A step up from a youth orchestra.
https://www.hoy.es/extremadura/orquesta-filarmonica-espana-20210718200453-nt.html
Besides its 27 full time publicly funded legitimate professional orchestras, of which Extremadura is one, many new dubious “gig orchestras” are sprouting up around Spain. They have pretentious names just like this one. They usually have facebook pages, not websites and they prey on the hordes of young, well-trained young Spanish musicians coming out of conservatories every year with no job prospects.
The “Film Symphony Orchestra”, an orchestra similar to this one, was in the news recently because they were offering concert tickets to musicians instead of paying them. They tried to hire a trumpet player with a master’s degree in performance from a top conservatory this way and he blew the whistle on them.
There are dozens of orchestras in Spain like this “Orquesta Filarmonica de Espanya”. Spain has no musicians’ union, so they can treat their players as they wish. They are pick up orchestras, no one supervises their hiring or work conditions and many are borderline abusive to young musicians desperate for experience.
Concert organizers of this “Stoned Music Festival” or whatever it’s called, should ask to see the contracts of the musicians involved in this pick up orchestra.
Better yet, why doesn’t AMPOS – the Association of Professional Orchestra Musicians of Spain – which aspires to represent orch players working in Spain but in reality does only what’s convenient – look into this?
As a caveat to my doubts about this “Orquesta Filarmonica de Espanya” – a trademark of newly born gig orchestras like this in Spain, is that they thrive primarily on social media presence.
You can’t find a website with a list of players or administration but you see glossy videos, and see a tremendous social media presence. Why? Because it’s free.
So it goes without saying that anyone involved in this “Orquesta Filarmonica de Espanya” is watching this thread, and trolling with plenty of thumbs downs for any words written against them.
Looking at this Stoned Music Festival, it appears that Extremadera politicians did absolutely the right thing. They took the high road.
It’s an outdoor rock and pop venue featuring some low brow artists. Placido is scraping the bottom of the barrel to have accepted this engagement. I have only compassion for a once legendary opera star performing in a venue where he’ll be followed a few days later by tacky Spanish pop icon Raphael.
The Orquesta de Extremadura is a fine symphony orchestra and they are too good for this engagement.
https://stoneandmusicfestival.com/
Your a snob…..
And you need to learn to spell. That should be “you’re”.
The Spanish Philharmonic Orchestra has stepped in apparently.
The event is a tribute to the healthcare workers who worked so hard during the pandemic.
The orchestra is apparently a pickup band under a fictive name, organised by Domingo’s people.
I think that the reason for the concert is the most important aspect. A bit like LiveAid was.
Domingo has a history of singing for worthy causes.
Madeline, where do you see that this concert has anything to do with healthcare workers? It’s nowhere on the website or on any of the concert announcements.
Do health care workers get any of the proceeds? Do they serve any purpose in this situation other than making Domingo look benevolent?
It’s always a great smokescreen for an unpopular artist to hide behind the ruse of giving a “tribute concert” for some cause or other. The logic being that you can’t really dislike the artist quite so much because they’ve attached their concert to some worthy cause.
You’re not seriously suggesting that Plácido Domingo is an unpopular artist?!?!
Your a cynic
I wonder who will be “stepping in” to accompany Domingo at Verona – in case the festival orchestra is still on strike.
See recent news item here:
https://www.nau.ch/news/europa/orchester-der-arena-von-verona-streikt-aida-am-klavier-gespielt-65965811
The fraudulent #MeToo movement has a problem with Domingo’s late night phone calls to women inviting them out but are perfectly A-okay with voting rapists Joe Biden & Bill Clinton into office, their victims have thoroughly documented their multiple attacks but #MeToo ignored them. #MeToo has no problem with child trafficking either. For the record, Placido Domingo never raped, attacked, sexually assaulted or forced himself physically on anyone. Yes #MeToo is a sham.
You forgot about governer Cuomo. He also was accused in harassment by many women, but he is still a governer of NY as he is a leftist like MeToo.
MeToo is not about women rights. MeToo is an instrument of radical leftisit to get ride of powerfull men.
did you leave out Donald Trump on purpose?
If I understand correctly, you are saying that we take accusations of sexual assault both too seriously and not seriously enough?
@Tom Clowes there’s no accusation of sexual assault against Placido Domingo (unlike Clinton, Biden, Trump). Not even an accusation of inappropriate touching. Domingo was accused of “inappropriate behavior”. The level of discomfort reported by the women varied, ranging from some women stating they were not uncomfortable to others who described significant trauma. By “trauma” the women meant they were traumatized that they had no talent and their careers went nowhere, even though they worked with Domingo. Anna Netrebko said it best: no means no. She was never a victim because she knew how to say no and make herself understood. That’s a strong woman, not a snowflake.
So, there is actually an orchestra in Extremadura?
Did anyonr ever prove he did this stuff?ANN
yes. search SD and you will find the legal conclusions.
The decision to forbid the Extremadura orchestra from playing was taken by a local politician not by the musicians. They are now out of a prestigious job and the concert organisers have hired the Philharmonic Orchestra of Spain to accompany Domingo. The concert is going ahead as planned on September 25. As often on your site, your headline is wrong. In case you missed it, Domingo performed to thunderous ovations in Madrid last month and is also performing in Marbella on 18th August.
Katarina, this headline was written BEFORE the Festival hired that new group of pick up musicians. Everything you mention has been pointed out already in this thread. Please read before you post. You are way behind.
The job is not prestigious. It’s an outdoor rock and pop festival. The orchestra has a full time season of their own and they don’t need the work.
Extremadura is actually the 2nd orchestra I’m aware of in Spain to take a stance on this issue. This past year Charles Dutoit was scheduled to conduct the Gran Canarias Orchestra. Politicians there, by public demand, cancelled his engagement for exactly the same reasons.
The date of the Slipped Disc story is July 19. The new orchestra to accompany Domingo was announced one day earlier, July 18. Who is “way behind” here? Also, any job accompanying Domingo is prestigious, I think.
Katarina, you are mistaken. The naming of the new pickup group replacing OEX was NOT on July 18. It was on July 19. Every single major newspaper in Spain has it on that date. For example: https://elpais.com/cultura/2021-07-19/la-orquesta-filarmonica-de-espana-acompanara-a-placido-domingo-en-merida.html
Mr. Lebrecht probably wrote his headline earlier in the day on July 19. Spain is one hour behind the UK. The info was promptly updated in this thread as the news became available. I’m afraid you didn’t take the time to read it here.
Yes, to some people, any job accompanying Placido Domingo might be considered prestigious. But the Orquesta of Extremadura is a well regarded symphony orchestra in its own right. They have their own full time season with prestigious artists of their own to accompany this year.
OEX is a publicly funded orchestra, paid for by every local taxpayer in the Extremadura region of Spain. Those taxpayers include not only fans of Mr. Domingo, but also citizens who object deeply to their taxes being uses to pay for an alleged sexual perpetrator’s concert.
The pick up orchestra replacing OEX is a gig band, privately funded with no political affiliation.
A similar situation happened with Gran Canarias Orchestra earlier this year with Charles Dutoit. Taxpayers organized an immense revolt when they learned of the accusations against him and pressured politicians until Dutoit was uninvited. It all came down last minute and it caused considerable consternation for not only the politicians, but also the orch. management, Maestro Dutoit and his manager.
I’d say Charles Dutoit is right up there in the prestige catagory with Placido Domingo.
Extremadura politicians have made exactly the right decision to withdraw the orchestra from this concert. They show wisdom, and foresight and announced their intentions with enough time for the Festival to hire another group.
This reveals, perhaps, a key point about publicly funded orchestras. They belong to everyone who pays taxes. The politicians who represent those taxpayers have every right to call the shots as to who does or doesn’t perform with their publicly funded orchestra.
This is a link to one of the announcements of the new orchestra on Sunday, 18th July. On Monday 19th July at 10 o’clock in the morning Spanish time, ticket sales started.
https://www.tellerreport.com/life/2021-07-18-the-philharmonic-orchestra-of-spain-will-accompany-plácido-domingo-in-mérida.rybUfrlM0d.html
Katerina, this link is for a dubious news source which simply regurgitates news from non-English sites (their own description).
There are plenty of sites like these who cull from legit Spanish news sources. They are not especially reliable, so you learn check their actual source.
Scroll down and check for the actual news source of the link you posted. It’s spelled wrong, but it’s El Mundo, a major Spanish paper. If you clink on this link, it takes you to the source article for the link you posted, which is this:
https://www.elmundo.es/cultura/musica/2021/07/18/60f46f0721efa0bc2e8b4572.html
The date which appears in the original source article is July 19. July 18 was a Sunday. This never would have been published in Spain on a Sunday. No one does business, the press is off, it just doesn’t happen.
Another report about the new orchestra, Sunday, July 18, quarter past eight in the evening
https://amp.20minutos.es/noticia/4768215/0/la-orquesta-filarmonica-de-espana-acompanara-a-placido-domingo-en-merida-tras-el-veto-de-la-junta-a-la-oex/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_campaign=mobile_web&__twitter_impression=true
And from another obscure news source.
Do you seriously think that the author of this blog has time to comb thru every obscure news article in any given foreign language before announcing a headline?
You’re faulting him because his headline was a few hours behind actual news. He was on the same timeline as every major Spanish news source: El Pais, ABC, El Mundo, etc.
The correction was promptly noted in this thread by his readers. And yet you are not satisfied.
“20 Minutos” is not generally the place you go for classical music news. Since it was a Sunday, they apparently scooped the big papers.
You had to be looking pretty hard to find that. You need to get a life, Katerina.
Good for “20 minutos” for apparently getting a scoop and good for those of us who wanted to buy tickets and were keeping an eagle eye on all news reports on Sunday. Bye Rodrigo, life is calling me and I don’t want to miss anything.
The orchestra,and the public are the BIG losers