The Board of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras (MCO) has announced that Sir John Eliot Gardiner, founder of the Monteverdi Choir, the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, ‘will not be returning to the organisation’.
The announcement follows the suspension of Gardiner’s conducting activities following his reported physical assault of a singer backstage at the Berlioz Festival in France in August 2023.
The MCO statement reads:
‘Following a reported assault in August 2023, John Eliot Gardiner stepped back from public music-making. He accepted full responsibility for the incident, and he has not worked with the organisation for nearly a year.
‘During this time, the MCO did consider the possibility of a rehabilitation process – operating within the MCO’s Respect & Dignity at Work policy – while its primary concern throughout has been to fully uphold values of inclusion, equality and respect for all its stakeholders. As a leading Arts organisation, the MCO takes seriously its obligations to protect victims of abuse and assault, and preventing any recurrence remains a priority for the organisation.
‘John Eliot Gardiner’s extraordinary musical influence over the past 60 years has made a lasting impact. The MCO acknowledges with gratitude his monumental contribution, and holds a deep-seated commitment to honour and preserve these phenomenal accomplishments.
‘The organisation is proud to have enabled and promoted his long and illustrious career, alongside that of many other musicians. They will work passionately to build upon the remarkable foundations laid by the three ensembles he founded, taking forward their trailblazing work with new talent and new benchmark performances for years to come.’
Gardiner was conducting Berlioz’s opera Les Troyens across two nights at the Berlioz Festival in 2023 when the incident took place.
On 22 August, bass soloist William Thomas left the podium on the wrong side. It’s reported that Gardiner then took the singer to task backstage, hitting him in the face. Gardiner subsequently withdrew from all conducting appearances.
Gardiner has also released his own statement, claiming, ‘For the avoidance of doubt, I am not in any sense ready to retire.’
The statement form John Eliot Gardiner reads:
‘After a long period of deep consideration and reflection, I have decided to step down as leader and artistic director of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras (MCO) with immediate effect.
‘The MCO, which I founded in 1964, has been the proudest and most inspiring project of my life, and I have arrived at this decision with a heavy heart after six decades of remarkable collaborative achievement.
‘I have done a great deal of soul searching since the deeply regrettable incident at the Festival Berlioz at La Côte-Saint-André last August and have apologised repeatedly and unreservedly for losing control in such an inappropriate fashion.
‘I have undergone extensive therapy and other counselling over the past 11 months and have learned a great deal about myself and my past behaviour, but I have reached the conclusion that the best way forward for both myself and for the MCO is to accept that a clear change in our relationship is necessary now for the good of both parties.
After extensive discussions with the MCO board, I therefore feel that in the interests of the institution and its richly talented players – many of whom I value as close personal friends – the time has come for us to go our separate ways.
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not in any sense ready to retire. I will be focussing on a rich variety of other activities including guest conducting, recording, writing, creative and education projects (to which I am deeply committed) as part of a lighter, lower pressure schedule. I truly feel energised and excited about the future and fully intend to commit wholeheartedly to carrying on the work that I remain passionate about and which is forever part of my DNA.’
John Eliot Gardiner: one of the world’s leading conductors
One of the world’s most admired conductors, John Eliot Gardiner is famous for his interpretations of Baroque music, in particular Bach and Monteverdi. His cycle of Beethoven symphonies with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, one of three ensembles he has founded, is also one of the most admired Beethoven symphony cycles in the catalogue.
Earlier in 2023, Gardiner made arguably the most high-profile appearance of his career. At the pre-coronation service concert for King Charles III at Westminster Abbey, he conducted two of the ensembles he founded, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, in music by Bach and Bruckner.