One of the greatest pianists (and latterly conductors) of his generation, founder and artistic director of the Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev, has been charged by Thai police with raping a 14-year-old boy, according to the BBC. Police also raided his Thai home in connection with a paedophile ring and found, say prosecutors, several "compromising" photographs with underage boys.
Extraordinary. Echoes of conductor Robert King, who was convicted of sexually assaulting five minors a few years back, who is making his British comeback this year at the Wigmore Hall. Pletnev will no doubt have to withdraw from the Proms - as King did. Will he be allowed to make a comeback? With talk of an alleged paedophile ring, it seems a murkier, more deep-rooted affair than King's and altogether unlikely. And I imagine him being lynched if he ever set foot in Russia again, even if acquitted.
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