Actually, it should have been the start of a grandiose tour through half of Europe. Hector Berlioz’ monumental opera “Les Troyens”, which is seldom performed because it lasts at least four hours, as a concert event with hand-picked top staff: Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducted the orchestra he founded himself, the Monteverdi Choir and the Orchester Révolutionnaire et Romantique came a group of exquisite soloists. But Tuesday’s performance at the Berlioz Festival in La Côte Saint André, Berlioz’s birthplace, was accompanied by a scandal: Gardiner allegedly slapped bassist William Thomas backstage because he left the podium on the wrong side . British newspapers and also the New York Times addressed the incident soon after, which was reported via the website slip disc became public.
Conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner slaps a singer – culture
