The 80-year-old conductor John Eliot Gardiner has announced that he will be withdrawing from all upcoming engagements until 2024, following an clash with a singer earlier this month.
The announcement was made his management, Intermusica, which said Gardiner’s time out of his professional activities would be used for a “period of reflection” and to “[focus] on his mental health while engaging in a course of counselling.”
The move comes one week after Gardiner reportedly punched English bass soloist William Thomas backstage in anger due to the singer having left the stage on the wrong side following a performance of Berlioz’s Les Troyens.
After attacking a singer, John Eliot Gardiner withdraws from tour and apologizes