This piece from the Canadian La Scena Musicale puts a different slant on
the story:

   The Dutoit Affair: Cause and Solution

   EDITORIAL by Wah Keung Chan / April 16, 2002
   La Scena Musicale Online

   Piecing together the events of the Dutoit affair from the many
   published sources, it is now clear that a major cause is a provision
   in the 1998 collective agreement.  Alan Conter of the Globe and Mail
   (April 13, 2002) found the root of the problem to be clause 12.05
   c), which states that when the maestro initiates a dismissal procedure,
   the dismissal can only be set aside by at least 75% of the review
   committee, meaning that 25% of the committee is needed to fire a
   musician.  The review committee is normally composed of the audition
   or tenure committee without the participation of the maestro.  La
   Scena Musicale has learned that the terms of clause 12.05 c) has
   existed in various forms since the mid-1980s.  Before this, the
   maestro needed at least 50% of the committee to side with him.  At
   that time, the clause was to be changed to 75% of the committee to
   give musicians more security, but a typo or other error altered the
   requirement to 25%.  Nobody caught it, and the time bomb has been
   handed down from contract to contract ever since.  Laura Brownell,
   Director of the Symphonic Services Division of the Canadian office
   of the American Federation of Musicians, said, "the other major
   Canadian orchestras need at least a majority to dismiss, and the
   Toronto and Vancouver symphonies require 9 votes out of 13."

   According to Marie-Josee Desrochers, the MSO's director of
   communications, Dutoit was simply following the rules of the collective
   agreement in requesting a meeting with the two musicians to discuss
   their work, as a first step that might lead to dismissal.  La Scena
   Musicale has learned that this is the first time Dutoit has initiated
   such a procedure since the last musician was fired back around 1980.
   Never having had the need to refer to clause 12.05 c) until last
   month, the MSO musicians were shocked at its contents.  It is
   understandable, then, that the musicians were upset to find Dutoit
   and the MSO seemingly taking advantage of this clause.  As a result
   they asked their union to save the jobs of their two colleagues.
   Guild president Emile Subirana must have realized that, given the
   details of the collective agreement, if Dutoit were to dismiss the
   musicians, he could really do nothing more to save the jobs.  Instead,
   he resorted to playing the harassment card and threatening a law
   suit.  The strategy might have been sound if Subirana had started
   the negotiations privately.

   It is now clear that the decision to go public with the threat of a
   lawsuit was a ploy to disgrace Dutoit, forcing him to resign while
   diverting attention from the Guild's mishandling of clause 12.05 c).
   Articles in the daily newspapers suggest that the majority of MSO
   musicians were surprised by Subirana's actions and that these actions
   do not represent their will.  If this is the case, the musicians had
   better change the mandate given to the union.

   Where do we go from here?

   While it's difficult to undo much of the damage of recent events,
   the clock must be rolled back to a time when both Dutoit and the
   musicians were comfortable with each other.  Management must take
   a more active role in improving dialogue so that all the different
   parts of the orchestra (conductor, musicians, administration and
   board) are working harmoniously together.  The collective agreement
   must be negotiated to:

     * give back to the musicians the security of the dismissal procedures
     as found in other major Canadian orchestras;

     * ensure the touring clauses conform to industry standards as found
     in other world-class orchestras, which could mean that rehearsal
     of orchestral works may be permitted.

   In the immediate, the following needs to take place:

     * the review procedures of the two musicians need to be rescinded
     by Dutoit and management until after the new collective agreement;

     * the MSO musicians must vote by a majority to ask Charles Dutoit
     to return as artistic director;

     * the musicians should withdraw their carte blanche mandate to the
     Guild to act on their behalf in this matter;

     * a committee of musicians and administration should meet Dutoit
     in person, as suggested by Arthur Kaptainis in the Montreal Gazette
     (April 13, 2002).

   The crisis can be resolved if we take the lead from the events in
   Venezuela and allow cooler heads to prevail over personal egos.
   Let the desire to produce excellent music be the guiding light.

Richard Pennycuick
[log in to unmask]