BA fires sex-charge UK conductor
NewsThe Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires has sacked Jan-Latham Koening as its music director after he was charged yesterday with child-sex offences in London.
A Colon statement read: ‘In view of the news of an extremely serious accusation against Jan Latham Koening in the United Kingdom, the Teatro Colón has decided to dismiss him from all current and future activities he performed in the institution.’
Latham-Koenig was appointed in March 2022.
There has been no response so far from Moscow’s Novaya Opera, where he holds a similar post.
The Puccini Festival at Torre del Lago has followed suit:
https://www.lanazione.it/viareggio/cronaca/arrestato-latham-koenig-al-pucciniano-tutti-attoniti-ab50d627
Why was such a mediocre conductor, with rumours swirling around about him, awarded an OBE in 2020. His brother in law Nicholas Kenyon is in the committee responsible for these awards. Surely questions need to asked? This stuff stinks.
Interesting recording dating from 1990 here:
https://www.discogs.com/release/2594087-Kurt-Weill-Raffeiner-Ploog-Kimbrough-Ramm-Pro-Musica-Köln-König-Ensemble-Jan-Latham-König-Happy-E
But what’s in a name already?
Guilty until proved innocent, then?
Virtually impossible for any organisation to carry on with him in these circumstances. Ideally maybe he should have been suspended pending the full court hearing but the Italians and the Argentinians decided otherwise and one can understand why.
Yes but please note: there is not going to be a “hearing”. This man has been arrested and there is going to be a trial. This means people need to be careful about what they say until the trial is over.
For clarification: a hearing is typically used to gather information, while a trial is used to determine guilt or innocence.
Yes there will be, in the magistrates court which will then decide whether to send the case to a higher court to be heard. This is far too serious to be decided by the magistrates.
He doesn’t holds such post in Novaya Opera since 2019.
The website says that he is Chief Guest Conductor.
This is a translated post (originally in Spanish) from from “Poirot” on X:
Jan Latham-Koenig charged 195,000 dollars a year living in London, in turn he was paid travel expenses and expenses around the world. He was hiring his assembly for the Colon (more millions in his pocket) When he came he had complaints from dozens of employees, no one did anything
One more thing to add while he worked in Mexico never once had the intent or even the courtesy to learn a work of Spanish or utter even a yes in the la language.
When he worked in Mexico he earned outrageous fees hired soloists from his agencies, treated musicians and orchestra employees’s with disrespect, he hated singers and yet management let him do as he pleased because there was that complex of the conquerer he was English. A few year ago during the National voice contest another depraved conductor names Ivan Anguelov fondled and sexually harrassed one of the contestants but in order not to make a scandal and ‘tarnish’ the competition’s reputation the then opera director and director of the contest Mr Mendez Padilla decided to award a prize to the female singer who was fondled by Anguelov. They covered it up! To make matter worse they let Angeuelov conduct the whole run of Madame Buttfly that he was hired to conduct in the first place.
So the Teatro Colon did the honorable thing to separate this man from his job!
By the was the national voice contest that takes place every year in Mexico is called Concurso Nacional de Canto Carlo Morelli whose director since 2006 is Francisco Mendez Padilla who uses public money to fund it and of course has a say in who wins. the problem is that if Mexican singers who do not take part in this contest is excluded from singing in at the National Opera Company of Bellas Artes. Mr Mendez Padilla not only profits from the concert but has the job to do the supertitles for the opera orchestra and ballet without being an employee. This contest has been involved in allegations of sexual harassment, cheating, favoritism, corruption. The conductor is Ivan López. Reynoso also accused of sexual harassment and a student of Latham Koening. I think it’s time to put the card on the table and uncover this filth that permeates in the opera world in Mexico and elsewhere.
I think he’s a good conductor with quite a lot of charisma. but the latest allegations are unfortunate- bad luck for Jan Latham.
So far he is accused, not found guilty. As we know from the post office disaster, being accused does not equate necessarily with guilt. So suspension seems more in keeping with justice. From most of the comments so far, judgement is considered to have been passed already.
Well it’s actually quite like the Post Office as it appears to involve special delivery of registered male.
His relationship with Putin’s Russia also highly suspect.
By the way, there is another dubious and questioned voice contest in Mexico organized by the so called Ópera de San Miguel, there had been allegations of misdeeds, favoritism, misogyny and harassment going on over there. …What is the purpose of doing contestes when it is already agreed and know beforehand who the winners are. the amazing thing! Get this …the artístic director is the editor of the longest running magazine in Spanish in this continent, a critic, and a singer! His name is Charles Oppenheim, currently linked to Ivan López Reynoso who hires him as a bass in Bellas Artes, both also mentored by the marvelous Latham Koening. In other words the director of a voice contest can very well be a judge a critic and Interviewer and a colleague of the singers who sign up for the contest. Talk about conflicts of interests! But that is what must be said as it happens everyday in Mexico. Pandora’s box was opened with the Latham Koening deal ….
Opera can be too the business of white collar crooks …