Mikhail Pletnev: I do not – and have never – run any form of music school in Thailand

I have today appeared as instructed at the Pattaya District Court. In order to be here, I returned to Thailand from Europe.

I once again express my thanks to the Court for permitting me to leave Thailand 12 days ago to conduct at the opening concert of the 50th Ohrid Festival in Macedonia.

I have been asked to appear again before the Court in another 12 days. I wish to make it clear that I shall be here for that appointment. As publicised in the news media throughout the world, some people in authority and others expressed their views that I would never return to Thailand. I hope everyone now accepts that I am a man of honour and that I am a man of my word.

I have always stated that I will assist the police in every way I can with their enquiries into the allegations that have been made against me. I say again these allegations are not true. I also state, contrary to media reports, that during the police search of my home nothing connected with the allegations – no photographs or other visual material - was found in the computer.

I also wish to address some mistakes and rumours that have been written about me over the last two weeks.

Firstly, at a press conference prior to the concert at the Ohrid Festival, some media wrote that I claimed the allegations against me were “not important”. This phrase was taken completely out of context. That conference was to announce the opening of the 50th Ohrid Festival, a major occasion in Macedonia. One reporter asked one question about Thailand. I stated we were in Ohrid to celebrate the opening of the Festival. What was happening in Thailand was not so important that day in Ohrid, where it was more important that the media focus on the concert and the beautiful music we were to be performing. I have never regarded this case as being anything but very serious.

Secondly, my residence in Thailand is not full-time. I return to Thailand and my house here only when I have sufficient time available in my busy concert schedule. In the last 10 years, I have managed to make just a few visits to Thailand each year, with each visit being usually between 1 and 3 weeks.

Thirdly, I do not – and have never – run any form of music school in Thailand. Given the very short periods I am in Thailand, I frankly do not understand how this could be possible.

Lastly, it has been suggested that I arranged for some Thai instrumentalists to visit Russia for study with me. This is false. When I performed a concerto and a recital in Bangkok in August 2004 in honour of Her Majesty The Queen’s 72nd Birthday, I had the great pleasure of meeting Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana. The Princess honoured me by inviting me for a discussion about how she could further assist the development of talented young Thai musicians through a fund she had established for this purpose. She hoped it might be possible for one or more to study at the Moscow Conservatoire. She asked if I would audition some musicians, which I subsequently did. I then informed Her Royal Highness that none of the students were at that time close to the very high standard demanded for entry. That remains the only occasion when I have had any discussions with anyone regarding Thai musicians studying in the Moscow Conservatoire.

In conclusion, I ask that there is no further speculation on this case until the police investigations have been completed and the case considered by the Court.

Thank you.

Mikhail Pletnev

19 July 2010