In a statement released Wednesday, the board of directors of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras (MCO) said it had decided that John Eliot Gardiner would not be returning to the organization. In a slap in the face, the iconic English conductor finds himself disassociated from the musical institutions he founded.
The announcement is the climax of a saga that began with John Eliot Gardiner’s assault of a singer at the Berlioz Festival in La Côte-Saint-André, France. The conductor slapped and punched bass William Thomas, 29, after the show because the latter had not left the stage on the right side.
Following the media coverage of the event, Gardiner apologized to the singer, but the incident led to artists speaking out to the media confirming the leader’s angry temperament. The latter withdrew from the stages for the whole of 2023, an absence that was then extended until the summer of 2024. “I am taking a step back in order to obtain the specialized help that I have recognized that I have needed for some time,” he had communicated at the time.
This withdrawal had deprived Montreal of the Mass in B minor under his direction at the Bach Festival. The MCO had replaced this Montreal date with a concert in Ottawa under the direction of Dinis Sousa, Gardiner’s assistant, who had also taken over the concerts of the Trojansparticularly in Salzburg, after the defection of the titular conductor.
The observation
In 11 months, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge and, above all, the MCO – which includes the Monteverdi Choir and its orchestra, but also the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre révolutionnaire et romantique – was able, by force of circumstances, to carry out a full-scale test that the organization would never have dared.
The question was as simple as it was vital: could these ensembles exist and shine in the same way and with the same potential for attraction without their founder? Rather surprisingly, the answer was yes. The public did not shun the ensembles in the absence of the star conductor.
It will be noted that the news reaches us a few days after the praise for the presentation ofIsrael in Egypt Handel’s opening weekend of the Salzburg Festival under Peter Whelan. Meanwhile, the Philharmonie de Paris sold out in May, when Dinis Sousa took charge of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique’s complete Beethoven series, a critically acclaimed series.
Therefore, from the moment the existence and the “independent” aura of the institutions were proven, the opportunity was too good for the board of directors to break its ties with a cumbersome character. The MCO board of directors emphasizes that “its main concern has always been to defend the values of inclusion, equality and respect for all its stakeholders.”
Recognizing “with gratitude his monumental contribution,” and committing “deeply to honoring and preserving his phenomenal achievements,” the organization is thus distancing itself from Gardiner, saying it is “proud to have enabled and promoted his long and illustrious career, as well as that of many other musicians.” As such, these musicians will work “passionately to build on the remarkable foundations laid by the three ensembles he founded, continuing their pioneering work with new talent and new benchmark performances for years to come.” Certainly, we will soon see new faces associated with the organizations.
Low backfire
In a counter-fire move, Gardiner, who founded the Monteverdi Choir in Cambridge in 1964, issued a statement through his agency saying: “After a long period of reflection, I have decided to step down as conductor and artistic director of the MCO with immediate effect.”
The wording “I have made the decision”, which is repeated in the following paragraph, obviously contrasts with the MCO press release but is hardly misleading when one reads that, as part of his therapeutic process, Gardiner came to this conclusion: “The best way forward, both for me and for the MCO, is to accept that a clear change in our relationship is now necessary for the good of both parties”. So, “accept” or “decide”?
The ending is even less deceptive, since in thanking “the musicians, singers, sponsors and patrons,” Gardiner deliberately and conspicuously forgets the administrators. “I am in no way ready to retire,” the conductor finally writes, planning to continue his career as a guest conductor, recording, setting up educational projects and writing.