Pletnev: Charges Dropped

[Guitarist]

It will be interesting to see if he can regain some semblance of a career...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/de ... on-dropped

[piston]

Very good news if he was not guilty of any wrong doing. Unfortunately, no, that's not enough. His reputation has suffered. He will never be the same, personally, and public perception will never be the same either.

If he was genuinely innocent, this whole situation is the equavalent of being kidnapped, except that his reputation was kidnapped, not his physical being. And kidnapping is a very serious crime. So. What next? Prosecute and nail the reputation kidnappers?

[Guitarist]

Very good news if he was not guilty of any wrong doing. Unfortunately, no, that's not enough. His reputation has suffered. He will never be the same, personally, and public perception will never be the same either.

If he was genuinely innocent, this whole situation is the equavalent of being kidnapped, except that his reputation was kidnapped, not his physical being. And kidnapping is a very serious crime. So. What next? Prosecute and nail the reputation kidnappers?

Oh, I imagine there will be a permanent cloud of doubt. No one is saying he's innocent in all of this--he just wasn't proven guilty--not exactly the same. If he is innocent, I absolutely feel sorry for him. If he were metaphorically "kidnapped," I wonder what was the motivation?

[John F]

I'm not one to believe that where there's smoke there's necessarily fire, but the whole story has been very shadowy - "involved" is a weasel word for when you don't really know. And dropping the charges against Pletnev leaves unexplained the basis on which he was arrested in the first place, what exactly he was charged with, and why the charges were brought.

Whatever. It remains to be seen what impact all this may have on his career, but the world is not so full of classical musicians with his kind of individuality that it can do without him.

[karlhenning]

. . . No one is saying he's innocent in all of this--he just wasn't proven guilty--not exactly the same. If he is innocent, I absolutely feel sorry for him. If he were metaphorically "kidnapped," I wonder what was the motivation?

The motivation might have been petty enough that, revealed, it would not make particularly good drama.

Cheers,
~Karl

[stefanher]

I don't think it's necessarily all doom & gloom. Robert King seems to be doing very nicely now...Will Hyperion have the nerve to continue his Monteveri series????

[Lance]

If none of what Mikhail Pletnev is accused of is true, what has subsequenty happened to the man is a tragedy especially if it was planned to do him damage with false charges. The public doesn't forget some things, and I fear this might be one of them. It would seem to me that Pletnev's career either as a pianist or conductor will never be the same, no matter what.