National Opera acknowledged guest director’s misconduct, took action

The Dutch National Opera acknowledges that guest director Andriy Zholdak was guilty of unacceptable transgressive behavior during the production of the opera Fidelio. This was announced by the company on Saturday in response to a major report in Het Parool. Rehearsals took place over seven weeks in April, May and June of 2024.

According to the opera, this included “impulsive, inappropriate, indecent and intimidating behavior and physical touching without prior permission being sought, especially during rehearsals.” The company emphasizes that Zholdak is not commissioned by the Dutch National Opera. “This was our first time with him and also our last: Zholdak will not return to work with us again,” the company said.

According to the Dutch National Opera, Zholdak was repeatedly cited by employees during the production process for his problematic working methods and excessive behavior. But the behavior continued to repeat itself.

An incident also occurred during the ensemble rehearsal. The statement said, “While the director was showing a scene to the extras during a rehearsal attended by other artists and staff, he touched the hip/hip of this extra with his hand.” “Under our protocol, Zholdak should have requested prior permission for this. The extra in question then filed a formal report regarding the violating behavior.”

Following this report, the director was prevented from entering the theater and interviews were held with people directly involved in the matter. “Based on these discussions, we informed Zholdak that the continuation of the rehearsal process was only possible under strict conditions.” The director also apologized to the employees involved in the incident.

When the opera brought in Zholdak for a production of Beethoven’s opera Fidelio, they reportedly knew nothing about the famous director’s controversial behavior. At a press conference in Romania in 2016, Zholdak explained his directing style: “Tomorrow morning at rehearsal, I want you to be my dog. And when you are my dog, you have to listen to my commands: mental commands, physical commands.” Het Parool, emotional commands, sexual commands, everything, you are my dog.

The Dutch National Opera states that if Zholdak does not accept these conditions, the production will be stopped. The company emphasizes that continuing production is also the wish of the employees. One of the performers, the aforementioned extra, had a different opinion. Withdrew from the production. Het Parool reported that this extra filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office, but no further investigation resulted.