ATLANTA • The baton has dropped for three men in classical music.

In response to a Washington Post report about alleged sexual harassment from the trio, one of them, Bernard Uzan, 73, a stage director and artist's manager, said he is leaving opera.

"I come from a very different culture, I am of the 1960s generation, which is not an excuse, but simply a fact, and I have made mistakes throughout my life," he wrote in a letter released by his agency.

"If I have offended any of you, I deeply apologise. While I still deny the recent allegations, I am realising that it is very difficult, practically impossible, for me to adapt to the new rules of behaviour... I will now concentrate... (on) writing."

The Post reported that four women had accused Uzan of inappropriate language, propositions and groping.

Another man, William Preucil, concert master of the Cleveland Orchestra, was accused of assaulting a young violinist in a hotel during a teaching stint at the New World Symphony in Miami. He has been placed on paid leave by the orchestra and has resigned from his position at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

As of Wednesday, there was no statement from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam about Daniele Gatti, its chief conductor. He was accused in the article of assaulting two women in his dressing rooms, one in Chicago and the other in Bologna, Italy.

He has, however, engaged a publicity firm, through which he issued an apology "to all the women I have met in my entire life".

WASHINGTON POST