British musical director impersonated Hitler in front of German choir

He acted defensively when people in a German choir chipped British choristers for their bad pronunciation of German words in choral music.  Many classical music people are rather unworldly so he probably had no idea of how incorrect his actions were

A respected English musical director who specialises in the works of Bach and Schumann outraged a visiting German choir when he impersonated Hitler and made a joke about the Holocaust.

The German choristers were taking part in the Three Choirs Festival at Worcester Cathedral as part of the commemoration of the outbreak of the First World War.

David Barclay, 42, was excluded from the festival and compelled to apologise to the visiting singers. He now faces a disciplinary hearing which will determine if he is to be expelled from the Worcester Cathedral choir permanently.

Mr Barclay, whose mastery of German classical music is internationally renowned, has since apologised for his comments. In a statement, he said: "I'm very sorry for any offence I caused during the Three Choirs Festival. I completely understand why what happened was inappropriate.

A row erupted between Mr Barclay and members of the Chemnitz Opera during a rehearsal of 'A Foreign Field' by German composer Torsten Rasch.

The argument followed comments made by the Chemnitz singers about their English counterparts' ability to sing in German.

A member of the Pershore Town Choir, which Mr Barclay also leads, said he may have "misjudged his audience".  He said: "What I have been told [by someone] who was there was that the German delegation of singers were becoming bolshy about the performances.

"David, who speaks German very well, said something to the effect of the German singers behaving like the Nazis.

"I am told he mocked them by pretending to be Hitler. He was making a point about them not to be too critical of the English singers but it got out of hand."

SOURCE