Famed Conductor John Eliot Gardner Accused of Striking Singer Backstage

Conductor John Eliot Gardiner has been accused of physically assaulting a singer following a performance at the Festival Berlioz in La Côte-Saint-André.

According to The New York Times, the incident, first reported by classical music website Slippedisc, took place following a concert performance of the Berlioz opera Les Troyens.

An unnamed source told The Times that Gardiner struck the singer, an English bass named William Thomas, in the face for leaving the podium the wrong way at the end of the performance.

A representative for the conductor's agency has confirmed that Gardiner has since withdrawn from the festival and returned to London to meet with his doctor. Gardiner was replaced by Dinis Sousa, an associate conductor of the Monteverdi Choir, for the final Festival Berlioz performance of Les Troyens. 

The source told the Times that the victim exhibited no serious injuries and would take the stage again on Wednesday evening. 

General and artistic director of the Festival Berlioz, Bruno Messina, said in a statement that he was “devastated by the incident.” 

There is no word on whether the alleged incident will impact Gardiner's upcoming performance with Monteverdi Choir and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique in southeastern France or upcoming European tour.

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