Thursday's bombshell Associated Press story which outlined multiple sexual assault allegations against former Charles Dutoit is reverberating in Montreal, 15 years after he left the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Three singers and a musician told the AP similar stories about Dutoit trying to fondle and kiss them when they were in an out-of-the-way place, such as a backstage dressing room or a hotel suite.
None of the incidents described in the AP piece took place in Montreal, but according to the Montreal Gazette's classic music writer Arthur Kaptainis, said there had been rumors swirling around, but because of Dutoit's position as a career-maker, no one at the time wanted to dig too deeply into those rumors.
"I would hear second, third-hand rumors which are intrinsically very hard to pursue," Kaptainis says. "However, I confess, we should have done more when we had the opportunity."
Dutoit led the MSO from 1977 to 2002, when he resigned amid a revolt from his musicians, who accused him of abusive and tyrannical behavior.
Luc Fortin, the head of the Quebec Musicians Guild, which represents the MSO's musicians, says there haven't been any complaints of sexual misconduct filed during Dutoit's leadership, and that the abuse claims were psychological rather than sexual.
Fortin adds there are no plans for his group to conduct an investigation into sexual misconduct by Dutoit, and that it would be the MSO's responsibility to do that.
Natasha Gauthier, a journalist covering the Montreal classical music scene during the 1990s, did report on an interview she conducted with Dutoit in a dressing room.
"He starts leaning in closer, and starts touching me knee, and starts trying to grab at my hand and hold my hand, and play with my fingers," she said. "I got exasperated and I said something like, 'Maestro, I'm here to work. How about you?'"
The MSO's management has not commented on the allegations. A spokesperson for Montreal Police, meanwhile, says to the best of his knowledge, no complaints against Dutoit were ever filed with them.
-CJAD 800's Matthew Gilmour contributed to this report.