Askonas Holt confirms John Eliot Gardiner ‘incident’

Following accusations that conductor John Eliot Gardiner physically assaulted bass William Thomas backstage, Thomas’ management Askonas Holt has released a statement confirming that an ‘incident took place’.

The alleged assault took place during the performance of the first half of Berlioz’s Les Troyens at the Berlioz Festival at La Côte-Saint-André in France on Tuesday (22 August). When the bass left the podium on the wrong side, reports (published on music blog Slipped Disc and later confirmed by Radio France) state that Garinder ‘slapped and punched’ Thomas ‘in the face’.

In a statement released this morning via twitter, Askonas Holt said: ‘We can confirm that an incident took place after Tuesday's performance of Berlioz's Les Troyens with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir at La Côte-Saint-André. Bass William Thomas is looking forward to continuing the tour with performances in Salzburg, Versailles, Berlin and at the BBC Proms, and will not be making a statement at this time. All musicians deserve the right to practise their art in an environment free from abuse or physical harm.’

Gardiner did not return to conduct the second half of Les Troyens the following night (23 August) and was replaced by assistant conductor Dinis Sousa. Questions are now being raised by the wider classical music community on social media about Gardiner’s future engagements. His upcoming appearance at the BBC Proms in September (where he was scheduled to perform the same work also starring William Thomas as bass soloist) has today (24 August) been cancelled, with the BBC releasing the below statement:

'Sir John Eliot Gardiner has decided to withdraw from the performance of The Trojans at this year’s BBC Proms. We are grateful that Dinis Sousa will step in to conduct the performance on 3 September.'