by Paul J. Pelkonen
The Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit has just received a large lump of coal in his holiday stocking: in the form of four accusations of sexual misconduct.
In a detailed and harrowing story in the Associated Press, two opera singers and two musicians recall being sexually assaulted by Mr. Dutoit. The story, by Jocelyn Gecker, shines light on four unrelated incidents which involved the Swiss maestro, 81, attempting to force his attentions on four different women.
The story broke today. In separate interviews Ms. Gecker details how soprano Sylvia McNair, retired mezzo Paula Rasmussen and two women who did not want to be identified for professional reasons were allegedly attacked in turn by Mr. Dutoit over a number of years. These harrowing stories shed new light on the conduct of this famous musician, who is known as a specialist in the music of Berlioz, Ravel and Debussy.
The stories show a disturbing pattern of behavior on the part of Mr. Dutoit, who is music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Ms. McNair was cornered in a Montreal hotel elevator, and escaped when the doors opened. Ms. Rasmussen was assaulted in Mr. Dutoit's dressing room in Los Angeles, and the list goes on and on. Corroboration of their stories and secondary sources are provided in the article, which is viewable here. Mr. Dutoit could not be reached by the AP for comment.
With his long black tailcoat and imperious podium manner, Charles Dutoit s a familiar figure on the New York stage. He has led concerts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, although curiously he has not conducted at the Metropolitan Opera since 1990. He holds the post of conductor laureate at the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he stepped in after the orchestra rebelled against its former music director Christoph Eschenbach. He is also a familiar figure at Symphony Hall in Boston, where he recently led a performance of Berlioz' La Damnation de Faust. Mr. Dutoit is scheduled to lead the New York Philharmonic in a program of works by Ravel in 2018.
Mr. Dutoit is a Grammy-award winning conductor. He made his reputation with a stint at the helm of the Orchestre-symphonique de Montréal, an ensemble that he brought to world prominence through a lengthy Decca Records recording contract. It is not known if these allegations will affect his plans to lead the planned New York Philharmonic program, which is scheduled for January 17-20.
According to the article, each incident led to no charges being filed or pressed. Mr. Dutoit is a powerful figure in the world of classical music, and each artist stayed silent because they were afraid that the story would ruin their respective careers. In the article, Ms. Rasmussen states that she is coming forward now "because people are listening--and nobody would listen before."
Charles Dutoit is the second conductor this year to find himself under the cloud of sexual misconduct. Last month, the New York Post ran a piece accusing James Levine, the longtime music director of the Metropolitan Opera of engaging in unwanted touching of underage boys. Mr. Levine is currently suspended and the matter is under investigation.
