Around the Music Festival

Dominique Meyer, Intendant of the Vienna State Opera responded to an interview with the Austrian news agency (APA) about the allegations of sexual harassment emerging in the world-famous opera singer Plácido Domingo. Meyer revealed that there were no changes in the schedule for October and next June. Domingo will appear in “Macbeth” in October, and will appear in “Nabucco” in June before directing “La traviata”.

The suspicion was surfaced on the 13th by a US Associate Press delivering confessions of nine women suing past damage. The Los Angeles Opera, where Domingo has been the general director since 2003, has begun an investigation by a third party committee, and the Philadelphia Orchestra and San Francisco Opera have canceled their performances. On the other hand, the Salzburg Festival does not change the schedule, and the correspondence of the music world is divided.

Mayer replied: “When I heard these allegations in the press, I was very worried, but I was not in a position to judge the details and at the same time I didn’t want to disregard them.” Mayer continued: “Austria is under the rule of law. The facts presented so far are as follows,” he pointed out: There is no police investigation against him, the Los Angeles Opera has started an investigation, the innocence presumption applies, and there are no similar claims against us. Mayer also said, “There is no legally valid reason not to fulfill the existing contract with Domingo.”

Photo：Salzburger Festspiele　/　Marco Borrelli