More allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault keep emerging from the world of classical music, even as the #MeToo movement is again in the headlines with accusations and denials about the movie star Asia Argento having sex with a minor.
The latest allegation is an accusation by a young opera singer who says that in 2010 he was drugged and raped by David Daniels (below), who is world-famous as a countertenor and who teaches at the University of Michigan, where he is now on leave.
Included in the allegation is Daniels’ husband Scott Walters, who is a conductor and who is accused of participating in the drug and rape incident.
Here is a well-researched and well-reported story from National Public Radio (NPR):
And here is a link to the story in The New York Daily News, the newspaper that first broke the story. That version also has photos of the accuser and Scott Walters.
One blog writer for slate.com – Bonnie Gordon, who teaches a class on music and gender at the University of Virginia — draws a link between the charismatic historic nobleman and the current charges of “womanizing” and allegations of sexual assault made against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (below).
She doesn’t bring up whether the same discussion applies to former Democratic President Bill Clinton, but it doesn’t seem a stretch.
She raises questions about what is sexual assault, seduction and rape – and how the definitions of a “rape culture” have changed over time and depending on whether it comes from a man’s or a woman’s point of view.
She pegged her essay to LAST weekend’s broadcast performance of the opera by “Live From the Met in HD” with Simon Keenlyside in the title role. In the YouTube video at the bottom, with English subtitles, Don Juan’s servant Leporello sings an aria about his master’s thousands of “conquests.”
But despite the week that has passed since the broadcast of the production, to The Ear the essay still seems relevant as the national election approaches.