Confirmed: Sir John Eliot Gardiner drops out of BBC Proms
NewsWe understand from sources familiar with the conductor that he has cancelled the rest of his tour of Berlioz’s Les Troyens. Gardiner, 80, had been due to lead the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique at the Salzburg and Berlin festivals and the BBC Proms.
The reported cancellation follows an incident at the opening performance in France on Tuesday night.
At this moment, attempts are being made to save the tour, conducted either by Gardiner’s assistant Dinis Sousa, or by another conductor… possibly Gardiner himself if he can be persuaded to reverse his withdrawal.
The BBC, for its part, is examining its policy on acts of aggression in the workplace.
A statement is expected later today.
UPDATE: The BBC Proms confirm that Gardiner has been replaced at his own request.
Let the young singer sue the daylights out of Sir. That’s what should happen immediately following Sir’s sacking from all other commitments everywhere. If, that is, the business has any ethics remaining, which I very much doubt. For example, Domingo, Netrebko and others.
Never mind cancelled engagements and civil lawsuits, he should be charged with criminal assault. Because that’s what that was.
There is far more to this than just hitting someone, and we are not Americans but British. The powers that be need to get to the bottom of it and not just have a bunch of self-righteous opinions on here who only know what happened by what has been printed both on here and in the newspapers for sensationalism. It pays to be kind in life, and it also pays to be forgiving as it all comes back as a reflection of ourselves. No one is condoning physical or verbal abuse, but I have worked with JEG as part of the Monteverdi Choir and whilst he has always been very demanding and he doesn’t suffer fools gladly, this scenario of JEG being painted at the moment, and the rumours going around to bring him down, is not the one I’ve known. There is obviously a case of mental illness that has to be taken into account and addressed here, as well as the medication that he is on and could be the cause of this alleged outburst.
I don’t think this is really a matter of him “deciding” he can reverse his withdrawal. The BBC fired Jeremy Clarkson, one of their biggest assets, after he threw a punch at a producer. No way are they letting the Notorious J.E.G. step up and conduct at the Proms after this. And rightly so.
And that’s what destroyed Top Gear. The BBC would be even stupider than usual if they made the same mistake twice.
It was utter juvenile and pernicious stuff anyhow, always with a whiff of mysogyny and other ‘isms’ when Clarkson thought he could get away with it. You think ‘pulling’ it was a mistake!
He has performed at the Proms every year since he last punched an orchestral player (in the LSO) – and everyone knew about that. So I’m not sure the BBC’s consistency is exactly assured.
The big question on everyone’s mind: why now? He’s exhibited similar behaviour in the past and even backstage at the Proms where he (allegedly) physically assaulted a stagehand after being informed that it wasn’t time for him to go on yet.
Allegedly! Why wait until he is 80 with a mental illness?
Why now? Because of the watershed moment that took place in 2017. The #metoo movement powerfully revealed the true human cost of allowing the “rainmakers” of this world to get away with the very worst behaviour. I think it marked the point where we as a society chose to say: enough is enough.
You can’t compare Eliot Gardiner with Jeremy Clarkson. It is not a like for like situation, much as people would love to do so.
Why not? Both thuggish bullies. You seem unaware of quite how many commenters are not just following the gossip, but have also experienced him in person while unfortunate enough to work for him.
Well, as I have tickets to the Berlin performance next week, I do hope I get to hear the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, the Monteverdi Choir, and the soloists, without Gardiner. An opera is bigger than a single conductor, and if the Monteverdi/ORR have not seriously thought about beginning to wean themselves from the identity of one octogenarian, they have serious problems.
Gardiner is 80; irrespective of any misconduct, the organisation should have started to give some serious thought about how it will endure beyond him. Or is the plan that the Choir, orchestras, recording label etc. all simply fold when he stops conducting (whatever the cause)? If they are literally unable to perform without him, that’s worrying.
I have tickets too.
They’ve already rehearsed extensively. Just let Sousa conductor or find someone else.
And presumably there was a backup plan in case Gardiner got sick (after all, we’re living in the age of COVID).
I don’t know that there *is* any organization independent of JEG (notwithstanding the existence of a board of directors). He founded the ensembles and has been the only one to conduct them (apart, one supposes, from last-minute absences like this one) for their entire existence. Likely as not, he owns whatever trademark there is for the ensembles’ names; certainly, in the minds of the public and the industry, the ensembles’ identities are entirely bound up with Gardiner’s.
Unless he dies unexpectedly and the board makes an impromptu effort to keep the enterprise(s) going, whatever future the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique have will be the future that John Eliot Gardiner chooses for them.
Britain has a total dearth of professional choruses (which is why the BBC Singers’ near-elimination stung so badly). The Monteverdi might just about be the only of its kind in the UK. They’ve built a brand over 45 years as the finest of its kind. The English Concert survived Pinnock, the AAM survived Hogwood, the ASMF survived Marriner. It can be done, if done properly. But it must be done, and this should be a wake-up call.
(I’d be curious to know what Souza’s role was – cover for emergencies, assistant, successor-in-preparation? How long has he been working with the MCO?)
It’s true that The English Concert continued without Pinnock and the AAM continued without Hogwood, yes. That’s because Pinnock and Hogwood made the decision to hand those groups over to other directors years before they died.
Gardiner ought to do something similar, certainly, but he had never given any indication that he would, and he’s never been the sort of person to give up control graciously.
At this point, though, he may have no choice.
Oh, and Britain has numerous professional choruses. The BBC Singers is the only one that employs its members full-time, but there are many other choruses that draw from the same pool of freelance professional singers that Gardiner does.
Pinnock is very much alive.
Oops — so he is, thank heaven. My apologies!
Professional choruses of that size? Britain has a ton of smaller vocal ensembles (The Sixteen and smaller), but large professional choirs? I can’t think of any (outside of ROH).
It’s just a group of singers from the usual pool, of whatever size is needed for each project. Hardly a standing group. Or an outstanding one. Much of its core is reliant on him precisely because they’re not high up enough on anyone else’s list to make a living. That’s how he gets away with his behaviour with barely a whimper from the victims of his bullying.
SINCE 2018 with them; bona-fide assistant conductor as often needed for big pieces and older conductors! cf Barenboim
He is a fine musician (also a fine pianist) doing great work at Sage Gateshead as did Zehetmair Vogt et al
Nobody is irreplaceable. JEG will retire, and there will be other conductors and other groups.
Amen.
There’s no space for MCPs in a woke society.
And the BBC Proms are a particularly woke arena.
I don’t think it’s “political correctness gone mad” to expect conductors not to physically assault their singers. “Don’t punch people” isn’t a new concept, although it’s true people have turned a blind eye towards JEG’s egregious behaviour for a long time.
Are you saying that as if it’s a bad thing?
I wasn’t expecting “you shouldn’t use violence on work colleagues” to be a particularly “woke”, or controversial, statement.
You didn’t actually read the story, did you. And you don’t actually know anything about the Proms, do you.
This has nothing to do with ‘woke’. He behaved like a bully and a thug – and he has already admitted and apologised for it.
He is not a bully and thug. He is ill!
I wonder if you would say the same if you had been one of his victims?
He’s been a bully and a thug for decades. This is nothing new. Finally the PR machine can’t cover up for his egregious behaviour any more.
In that case he has been ill since 1984 when I worked for him over a period of 8 years.
Gustavo, you can’t seriously be saying that it’s ‘woke’ to expect people not to punch their colleagues?
Who would try to persuade him to withdraw his withdrawal?
Good riddance to him: and don’t come back!
Thomas is still on the BBC New Generation Artists’ Scheme, I believe. There’s no way that the BBC could permit JEG to conduct its protégé, when he has just assaulted him!
I hope the BBC will take active steps to support Thomas and, if necessary, ensure the matter is reported to the authorities. I wasn’t aware of Gardiner’s reputation as a thug – but clearly people in the business were. Why have they allowed him to continue conducting?
Also to note: Dinis Sousa is principal conductor (or whatever the title) of the Royal Northern Sinfonia. He’s capable enough to be entrusted with a mid-size professional UK orchestra, and a very fine one at that (I heard them before he took over, but they’re an excellent group of high standard). It’s not as if the “associate conductor” were a completely green conducting student. Surely he can take over the tour?
Or is the suspicion that he’s not glam enough for Berlin and Salzburg?
FWIW, in my view, Les Troyens is the main draw.
How ironic: I had never liked JEG’s conducting in anything for decades until recently becoming quite fond of his Bach cantata cycle. And then he goes and does something like this. I had, of course, heard many a horror story about him as a man, so perhaps it shouldn’t be too surprising. Also, it must be said that all those who slated Tár, including Mr. Lebrecht, for being an inaccurate portrayal of the classical world ought to be eating some copious amount of crow right about now. Talk about life imitating art.
Tar actually minimizes what really goes on behind stage. If you didn’t get that ….you really have absolutely no idea what it really takes to “make it” in the disgusting world of the “arts”, especially classical music.
Tar is like Fox News doing a documentary about republicans….
In reality, it is really much, much, much worse.
Dinis Sousa was well in command of the performance here at La Cote Saint-André last night and received a deservedly enthusiastic reception, as did William Thomas. The real reason for Gardiner’s withdrawal was not announced. I hope they continue the tour under Sousa. He was obviously closely involved with the preparation and is fully capable. It would be pointless to try to find another “big name”.
He’s always had the reputation of being a bully and being rude and insulting to those working under him. It’s finally caught up with him – heat or no heat stroke excuse, and he deserves all he gets thrown at him now.
Performers will think twice about working with him – that is if he is fortunate enough to be employable after this.
His arrogance and vile unacceptable behaviour towards his musicians has always baffled many of us seeing him on the podium in rehearsal.
And yet you still work for him. Complicity.
If JEG has a shred of decency left in him, a full public apology to Mr Thomas should be made immediately and without any attempt at obfuscation.
Having seen the statement sent out to performers by management, it’s clear that he’s hiding behind doctors, and the backside covering and sweeping under the carpet has begun. I wonder how many performers, now not about to be released by MCO, will scuttle back like good little children and continue to say nothing.
I understand your anger at the lame excuses – there is no excuse for his behaviour. But put yourself in the shoes of the performers, all freelance, not especially well paid, in a very precarious profession. Just turning down work – especially if MCO is a major source of income for you – may not be an option if you have a mortgage to pay.
Much of the sycophancy derives from the fact that many have never proven good enough to obtain regular work elsewhere, and owe their entire livelihoods to him: it’s a sick dependency. Given his age, regardless of behaviour and cancellation, reality is going to hit them sooner rather than later. And mid-stream horse-changing will always be easier earlier. Some rigorous self-examination might prove useful, in more ways than one.
Sorry, but I thin this is beyond the pale. The musicians involved are amongst the finest in the country. The point is that there is only a certain amount of work available.
If you say so. Unfortunately that’s very far from the truth. Mostly choral C-listers.
I have no idea on what you base this, or whether your comment is influenced by jealousy or some other motive, but it is categorical nonsense.
Well known all across choral music. A few singers of quality brought in to polish the proverbial, many of the rest just duffers. You name them, I’ll tell you the truth. Whereas I sincerely doubt you could show anything to be “categorically” otherwise.
That’s ridiculous. Members of ‘his’ orchestras and choirs have flourishing careers. They don’t owe everything, or indeed, very much to JEG. However, as freelancers they have to take work where they can, even if that means suffering from this man’s uncontrolled temper.
You might want to look more discerningly at the core of his choir, and question how flourishing those careers really are. That’s how they end up so beholden to one person in power. There’s plenty of work out there for singers who are good enough. If they are, perhaps they’ll take that instead and tell the truth. Doubt it, though.
You’ve clearly got a chip on your shoulder. But you are simply wrong. I see singers from MCO in all sorts of other ensembles, many also as soloists. One of the strengths of the choir is that on many occasions so many of them perform step out solos – rather than a cast of soloists being booked separately. The same goes for the orchestra – you see players from EBS in all sorts of roles elsewhere, leading, giving solo recitals, etc. So I stand by my ‘categorically’. I’m getting weary of people insulting talented, hard-working musicians and effectively victim-blaming.
His best-before-date is long gone. If he is cancelled, fine. He has been exploiting young singers far too long. “Wrong medication, my foot. More like senility.
There have been a few stage directors I have wanted to walllop, but never did. Never had that kind of problem with a conductor. Just lucky I guess. (But Anton Coppola did once tell me that he thought he’d be able to take me in a fair fight!)
JEG got Jiggy
Here’s the title of the article if the conductor had been black:
“CONFIRMED: “puncher”, violent diversity baton waggler drops from BBC proms – what is the police waiting to charge him?”
Could you write that in English?
Funny, I don’t remember soooo much vitriol directed against Robert King when he was jailed for ruining a number of young lives… could it be because many musicians still work for him, justifying themselves because King “paid the price?” He paid nothing to those he harmed… the truth is many musicians would play for anyone as long as they are paid!
There was a lot of justified vitriol directed at the child abuser King, and outrage in the profession that he simply picked up where he left off when released from prison. I don’t agree with those who have continued to work for him, but I also understand that these decisions are not always that easy.
“Many musicians would play for anyone as long as they are paid!” This is a rather unfair characterisation of a very nuanced situation. The vast majority of musicians, especially in the field of period instrument performance, are freelance. Pay is poor and in most cases has stagnated or decreased over the last 20 years or so. It is extremely difficult to jigsaw together enough work to make a living.
I have never forgiven Jeggy for recording the shittiest ever Harold in Italy. Yawn yawn……
“Many musicians would play for anyone as long as they are paid!” It’s entirely fair. It is am easy decision. Work always comes around in this industry, and if it doesn’t for you, then you’re not good enough. It really is as simple as that. Although there are many doors opened for the privileged, at the end of the day being freelance is a meritocracy. I’m flabbergasted that people work for Robert King. The truth is the majority of those that still do wouldn’t have work elsewhere because they’re not very good. So they sell their souls for pocket money. That work is not sustaining their career as there isn’t enough of it. So your argument isn’t true. The industry is a cesspit of people with no values scared to say anything for fear of losing work. It’s an embarrassment.
The freelance world is somewhat meritocratic, but the capacity to obtain freelance gigs is nonetheless highly dependent on factors beyond merit alone, such as having the right connections, having a good reputation (which relies having been seen and heard to have done previous gigs to a high standard), and being in the right place at the right time (i.e.: someone finding out about you at just the time when they need your particular skills and experience). I am sure there are many freelancers (not just in music) who can relate to the experience of being hired for a project or assignment, doing a far better job than the previous person, and discovering that the main reason he/she had not been hired earlier was that the promoter/engager/client had not heard of him/her (and had hired him/her only because nobody else was available at the time).
I think a fairer characterisation of the freelance world is to say that it is *very* unforgiving of incompetent people (unlike the world of permanent payroll jobs, where some incompetent people manage to coast along in a secure office position for years or even decades), people who “put a foot wrong” (e.g.: on matters of etiquette or punctuality), or people who give one bad show (and do not have a sufficiently good reputation for this to be excused as a one-off aberration); but a person out of work is not necessarily incompetent. On the whole, classical music is not a “hot commodity” in purely commercial terms, and the number of subdisciplines and specialisms (real or perceived) militates against musicians being able to adapt *swiftly* in response to changes in the market. For instance, you would not expect — unless you are a clerk in an unemployment office in Finland, as per https://slippedisc.com/2018/02/unemployment-panic-among-finnish-strings/ — a professional violinist to be able to retrain within days or weeks to play viola to a professional level, unless said violinist happened to play both instruments regularly.
I’m afraid you have a number of misconceptions about the freelance music industry.
“Although there are many doors opened for the privileged, at the end of the day being freelance is a meritocracy.”
Not always. I know plenty who have not got the work their abilities deserved, and equally as many of lesser ability who have full diaries because they are lucky, or good at playing the system and flattering the right people.
“I’m flabbergasted that people work for Robert King.”
So am I, actually. I feel this is in a completely different league from the JEG situation, though.
“The truth is the majority of those that still do wouldn’t have work elsewhere because they’re not very good.”
This is simply untrue: they can and do work elsewhere.
“So they sell their souls for pocket money. That work is not sustaining their career as there isn’t enough of it. So your argument isn’t true.”
I don’t think you understand how a typical freelance career works. It varies of course, but most people will work for a range of groups, and complement this with teaching, privately or in conservatoires or schools, and these days often some sideline as a backup, especially since Covid. It’s a patchwork career and very precarious. Some people might be in a position to ditch one group, but for others, every part of the patchwork might be critical: it is a poorly paid profession. In JEG’s case, however, there really is a great deal of work, and for those who are involved in all the projects it very much does sustain their careers.
It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and make these judgements. It’s not so easy to abandon say, 50% or even more of your income to try to make a moral point as one individual among 100 or more. It’s even harder if you are one of the targets of bullying – you might think that would make it easier, but a horrible co-dependency can evolve, rather like in an abusive marriage.
“The industry is a cesspool of people with no values”
The vast majority are wonderful musicians who struggle to make a living in a challenging and precarious working environment. Fees have stagnated for a very long time, and they do their best to keep afloat and give their all in performance, often at the expense of their mental and physical health. Your insults are unwarranted and callous.
“or good at playing the system and flattering the right people” as we both know there are plenty of who schmooze the JEGs and the Robert Kings of this world to keep them employed. That’s my point.
It’s not a poorly paid profession. It should be better paid, but if you’re not making a decent living as a musician it’s likely you’re not very good. A harsh reality that will be to many but not everyone who wants to do the job they choose gets to. I agree that privilege and luck pay a big part, but the wheat mostly get separated from the chaff, and the rest happily take employment from people that those with values don’t work for.
My words are not meant as insults and twisting them to interpret them as such is disingenuous. A successful musician shouldn’t need to supplement their job to sustain themselves. ‘Choosing’ to take on more more regular and stable work, like teaching etc., is another issue entirely and one’s ability to do the job doesn’t come into it. There are many reasons one makes those choices. If you are good at what you do and you’re easy to get on with then a freelance musician can and should have a good career. They should also fight to make it better. They should also fight for themselves and others when people are set to destroy it with their abuse or otherwise.
“It’s not a poorly paid profession. It should be better paid, but if you’re not making a decent living as a musician it’s likely you’re not very good.”
I’m very sorry, but you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about.
I’m sorry but I have to back this up. The standard base pay for musicians has stagnated to the point where even if one were lucky to earn a full time living as a PRINCIPAL player in a major orchestra, one would not be able to earn a high enough income to get out of rental life.
Also there are other factors at play that touch on how outdated the system is. There simply isn’t equal access to opportunity everywhere. In France and the US/Canada, for instance, auditions will operate on an open invitation system, every applicant gets a chance whether through the prelim round or sending a tape. In the UK, even regional orchestras reject applicants based on lack of demonstrable track record within the country.
To be fully transparent, I’m a white middle class male. I should have every “systemic” advantage when it comes to making it in this career. I have an internationally spanning CV which I will keep quiet for anonymity, yet I’ve never performed professionally in the UK with one of the top tier orchestras. On the basis of that last point alone, I have been rejected from every UK audition I’ve ever applied to, whereas my CV would get me an in to auditions throughout Europe and North America otherwise (save for Germany, as I aged out of orchestra academies before migrating).
I’ve seen musicians in my field prepare for the same auditions I was invited to and play in a way that wouldn’t satisfy a university conductor. I struggle to understand how this real lived experience matches the claim that if you’re “ not making a decent living, you’re just not good enough.”
Bored Muso, it sounds like there aren’t enough jobs going around. This is not new. Yes, timing and luck can play a big part in landing work in the first instance, but you’re not going to keep getting work if you’re no good. My point is valid. You’re not entitled to work just because you’ve chosen to dedicate your life to that field. If there isn’t a market for your work at home then you have to find the market or you must find another job, as painful as that is. Many colleagues I know have moved to follow the work, many have changed profession, and many make a good living in music.
It’s not about being entitled to work. It’s about being denied opportunities without even being heard in the first place.
It’s a bit of an open secret in the UK that to land any work here, you have to have attended a UK based conservatoire. There’s a sense of British Exceptionalism that excludes musicians from working if their CVs don’t demonstrate that they have opted for the “traditional” British career path.
This isn’t a slam on UK musicians, by the by. It’s actually an interesting side effect of how the industry here is structured. All work is contracted on a freelance basis (except for the BBC to my knowledge). What this does is create an ecosystem in which musicians are treated as a pool of talent to be drawn from by orchestras that operate under an umbrella title, but with effectively a rotating personnel. Yes, there are “titled chairs” within each orchestra, but structurally you’re not so much “leader of the LSO” as you are “first call to be leader of the LSO on a given project.” Contrast this to an American orchestra which operates more similarly to an office job where everyone is assumed to be part of the orchestra and treated as an employee with a pension, tax and union contributions, healthcare (because USA), and other benefits all directly coming from the orchestra as an employing body.
What this UNFORTUNATELY results in, is UK orchestras commanding almost constant concert seasons, given that their employment model can ship the name of the LSO/LPO/RPO/Philharmonia with any musicians under the banner, seeing as beyond a minimum requirement for services they are only retained for the ones they sign up for.
The per service pay model is often sold to musicians under the guise of “you make your own hours”, though in real terms this is a lower salary than most major “salary model” orchestras if you choose a regular work pattern.
This in turn means that a lot of the musicians in Principal chairs, those who make recommendations to the fixers, are incentivized to take as many services as they can, and don’t have any extra time outside the orchestra to hear players who are new to town (ever tried booking a private lesson with an orchestral musician here? it’s nearly impossible). The only way you can catch the attention of a major player with a lot of hiring power is to find the conservatoire where they teach and spend a few years going into debt (unless you come from money) to hopefully one day be on their recommended list, assuming you can cut through the noise of every other player vying for attention.
The other way to get on an extra work list anywhere is to do well in an audition, but because orchestras in the UK 1) don’t outright own their hall in most cases and have to hire an audition venue and 2) don’t pay their committee for the audition time, they are incentivized to get auditions over with quickly. As a result of this, committees will create a really short list of invited candidates for any position, and this will often be reserved for those musicians who’ve played with the orchestra before. You can make a direct data comparison between a title role in a USA orchestra which holds 3 weeks of auditions to hear over 100 preliminary candidates, to an orchestra of similar stature in the UK holding an audition of about 20 candidates over one morning.
IN SUMMARY: You need to be heard to get work, and the structure of the classical music industry in the UK makes it difficult to get heard in the first place. Those who can afford to wait that long eventually get a lucky break (after which your point of meritocracy starts to apply), and those who are of financially lesser means are forced out of the industry and into more stable, easily accessible work lest they want to starve.
Questions?
Of the five Proms I booked this summer, so far I’ve had Just Stop Oil, the popcorn wars, last night pass off peacefully and now fisticuffs. Heaven knows what the Rach 3 will have in store….
This form of cancel culture I agree with 100%. He has form.
This comes thirty years too late.
Good riddance! This sickening misogynist has gotten away with it for years and it’s about time he becomes cancel culture’s latest victim… Bullying and sexism has no place in this industry.
Stick to farming from now on but please, please, please treat your poor defenceless animals better than you ever treated your musicians.
No doubt the Establishment will rush to his defence but please don’t be fooled by the faux-illness/pathetic excuse. The lowest of the low. Awful bloke.
Great opportunity for Dinis but what an awful situation to have to handle. I hope they all get the loudest Proms ovation yet this season!
Please do not judge those working for JEG at the MCO or ORR – this industry is hard enough for freelance musicians without people hounding players for working for X, Y or Z. Many players will be aware of JEG’s reputation but cannot afford to say no to lucrative, long patches of work.
The Philharmonia management (having just given him a titled position…) should act and set a precedent against JEG, as should all orchestras with JEG in their diary coming up (LSO for example). No doubt funding predicaments will play a huge part in all of this….
Tell me, what would he have to do before you stopped working for him? At what point do you consider the money you earn as dirty? Serious question. The hypocrisy amongst musicians is nothing short of staggering.
Stop attacking the musicians Truth teller. You’re way off point. This is about a man who hit a colleague- save your vitriol for him.
This is a man who has abused dozens of people over his career: public bullying, emotional and physical assault (multiple times). Many of the victims don’t work for him as a result. They have scruples. Those who standby, spectate and clutch their pearls for a moment and then continue on as before are complicit because they, those with power, do nothing. JEG should be 100% responsible for his disgusting actions. But look at any abuse case, when people know it’s going on and do ’nothing’ (some even try and defend him), they have to bear some responsibility. My question still stands and I genuinely want to know your answer: What would he have to do before you stopped working for him? Can you answer?
Gardiner should count himself lucky that William Thomas has more self control than he has. Many 29 year-old young men would have punched him to the ground. A very unpleasant man who has taken a step too far. Let us hope that this incident will mark the end of his dictatorial reign.