Just in: John Eliot Gardiner postpones his return
NewsThe conductor, who withdrew from public life after an aggressive incident last summer, has cancelled plans to conduct the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra on tour in May.
A joint statement reads:
The Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras confirms:
“We are pleased to announce that the forthcoming tour of Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists will be conducted by Peter Whelan. We are also delighted to announce the return of our Associate Conductor Dinis Sousa to conduct the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and the Monteverdi Choir for the May 2024 Beethoven Symphonies in London and Paris.
In an agreement between the board and management of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, we can confirm that John Eliot has decided to extend his time away from public music-making, and it is our shared aim that he will be in a position to return to conduct the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras later in the year.
It is a deserved tribute to John Eliot’s lifetime’s work that the Monteverdi Choir were last week awarded Best Choir at the Oper! Awards 2024.’’
Sir John Eliot Gardiner said:
“As announced by the board and management of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras today, I am extending my time away from public music-making until later in the year in the wake of last August’s incident – something for which I have accepted full responsibility and profoundly regret.
In the meantime, I am proud of the members of the three Monteverdi ensembles and management for bringing to fruition the concerts that were planned between August and now, and I wish to thank Peter Whelan and Dinis Sousa for taking over the forthcoming projects which mark the start of a year celebrating the Choir’s 60th birthday.
I would like to thank the Monteverdi family for their strenuous efforts, and I am confident they will continue to deliver their projects at an exceptional standard over the next few months, bringing delight and solace to audiences here and abroad at a time when the world situation requires this more and more.”
If memory serves me well he was also supposed to conduct Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem with the Concertgebouw. I see he has been replace by Dinis Sousa
For one horrid instant, I thought I’d read “Dinesh D’Souza” — so glad I was wrong.
Time to throw in the towel and hang up the gloves. Classical music has, finally, moved on from deifying thugs.
Good. He should retire. His musicians do all the work for him.
He’s in training to fight Mike Tyson.
I wonder if this means more stories are expected to come forward.
There are certainly plenty of them…
From what I heard, he’s been getting treatment ever since it happened and dealing with issues going right the way back through his career. I’m a big believer in rehabilitation and supporting recovery, so despite what I may have said about him in the past, I wish him well in his journey back to the podium.
The postponement would seem to indicate that the treatment isn’t working
I am torn. He is an undeniable genius in his field, but his personality problems are not going to disappear.
“He is an undeniable genius in his field”
He’s not a genius Paul – Bach himself was a genius. JEG is just a good conductor (and a better author) and that’s it.
Sir John Eliot Gardiner is one of the most consequential conductors of the last 4 decades. The ‘incident” in question clearly crossed the line and he has apologized and paid a heavy professional and financial price. I think it is time to forgive and forget and remember his contributions not to mention the thousand of singers and musicians he has nurtured and provided work for.
Who needs to “forgive and forget”? He is the one who decided to extend his leave, in consultation with the choir & orchestra, who should definitely have a say. Don’t make this into some pseudo-cancellation story – he’s the one choosing to stay away (incidentally, just like many ‘cancel culture’ incidents).
Financial loss, really?….we should start a Gardinerthon maybe….tears come to my eyes thinking about this poor old man
Easy to say if you are not the one publicly slapped for nothing. He should have been punished for assault.
If it was a one off moment of madness I’d be in accord with you but it wasn’t .
In addition to being a fine conductor, he’s a good writer as well . I’m very fond of his JSB biography which has some autobiographical touches in it .
“consequential” really? Didn’t you mean “confrontational”?
This is all William Thomas’s fault. The whole matter would have been resolved on the spot if he had given Gardiner a good hard punch in the nose when Gardiner slapped him. After a brief convalescence Gardiner could have returned to work with new insight into the consequences of picking fights with younger people (basically everyone he works with nowadays).
>Israel in Egypt< definitely in good hands with Peter Whelan!
How can an incident be “aggressive”? It was a person.
And, unlike every other major arts organisation in London, St Martin-in-the-Fields won’t refund you as a result of this major change of artist. Surprisingly unethical for a Christian organisation.