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| Facing the Music |
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James Fenton
copyright © 2007
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Originally published
in The Guardian
16 June 2007
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When the early music conductor Robert King
was jailed, at the beginning of this month, on charges of sexual
abuse of minors, his agent, Harrison Parrott, dropped his name
from its distinguished main website list (John Adams, Vladimir
Ashkenazy, Oliver Knussen, Sakari Oramo, and so on). One might
have thought that, whatever the rights and wrongs of the case,
a separation could be made between professional or artistic
matters and the conductor's personal life. And besides, an artist
who has just been sent to Wormwood Scrubs is going to need some
professional assistance in sorting out his affairs. This is
one thing that agents are for. Instead, Katie Cardell-Oliver,
King's manager at Harrison Parrott, told me his future with
the firm is still under discussion: "For obvious practical
reasons, we can't represent him while he's unable to work."
The initial reaction from Hyperion, the company
for which King made 95 recordings, was also uncertain: no decision
had yet been made, it was reported, as to whether to delete
his discs from the list. In a few days, however, the possibility
that, for instance, the 10 much-praised volumes of Vivaldi's
sacred music would be found to be infected with paedophilia,
and would therefore have to be burned, had been discounted.
Instead, there came from Hyperion's parent company, Harmonia
Mundi, the following carefully worded statement.
"The recordings of the King's Consort
will remain available, since they have involved the efforts
of literally hundreds of first-rate musicians and it does not
seem fair or appropriate to restrict their work from sale. Mr
King does not receive income from the continuing sale of Hyperion
CDs." Implicit behind the second sentence is the idea that
one might otherwise wish to boycott, say, the Monteverdi series,
or the Purcell anthems series, on grounds of disapproval of
King's private life. But now we know he was not on a royalty.
These long-running series of comprehensive
recordings are what makes Hyperion distinctive and worthwhile
as a company. Leslie Howard's complete Liszt piano music, Graham
Johnson's Schubert and Schumann songs, Robert King's Purcell
recordings are part of a list that has managed, by organising
itself better than other record companies (more intelligently
and with a better sense of the purchaser's real needs), to weather
the economic storm.
The professional catastrophe that Robert King
faces is also, of course to a lesser extent, a catastrophe for
Hyperion. Hyperion has been able and willing to keep its large
long-term projects going and to keep the results in stock. It
is an accumulative library within its chosen specialities.
So the work of the King's Consort, which the
20-year-old King founded in 1980 and built up from scratch,
together with its associated choir, has also been able to make
sense, accumulatively, over a quarter of a century. Scholarship
and musicianship have gone hand in hand. Performing texts have
been prepared, and are made available to the public. Our familiarity
with the baroque repertoire has been increased. It was open
to Hyperion - indeed, it still is open to Hyperion - to make
such points with rather more emphasis. Perhaps I have missed
some expression of professional loyalty on their part. If so,
I apologise.
It is, of course, very hard to extend sympathy
to someone in King's position without seeming to overlook, or
to condone, offences against minors. For my part, once the court
has done its work, and the sentence of, in this case, three
years nine months has been set in motion, I think that there
is every reason for the individual to feel sympathy for the
convicted. We are individuals. We are not the state. We are
not obliged to agree with the sentence, and nobody can prevent
us from keeping an open mind about the verdict.
For the ordinary, anonymous private citizen
convicted in such cases, there is the sentence itself, and there
is what you might call the multiplier: you lose your job, very
likely your home, you are submitted to persecution by fellow
prisoners, and so forth. There are many aspects to this multiplier,
which continue well after your release. Anyone who has watched
the multiplier in action will be bound to feel horror at its
effects.
For the artist, there are all these aspects
of the multiplier, and then some more. The case of Robert King
has unique ramifications. The judge recognised some of these
when not ruling against any future work with children. King,
as a married man with a young child, was deemed to have entered
a new phase in his life. And this decision is crucial to anyone
who works with early vocal music. To be debarred for life from
working with the male treble voice would have been a harsh fate.
As it is, the King's Consort and its choir
are being conducted, in the immediate future, by their recently
appointed associate, the harpsichordist Matthew Halls. The consort
is managed by King's wife, who stood by her husband throughout
the case. Presumably the future of the whole operation is in
some question. It is a tragedy for all concerned. And I strongly
believe that when our most distinguished artists are in such
terrible situations - whether or not they brought it on themselves
- we should offer them some kind of support, not because, as
artists, they deserve a better treatment than anyone else, but
simply because we have so much to thank them for.
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