 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-11-07 15:14
The following message was posted on the American Musicological Society list, with permission to forward to others. It concernes continued discrimination against women by the Vienna Philharmonic, including refusal to create a permanent position for the woman whose admission was trumpeted so loudly a few years ago.
Forwarded message from William Osborne <100260.243@compuserve.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Nov 2005 05:07:20 -0500
From: William Osborne <100260.243@compuserve.com>
Reply-To: William Osborne <100260.243@compuserve.com>
Subject: VPO Update: Bad News
To: iawm list UNT <IAWMLIST@UNT.EDU>, Gender List <gen-mus@virginia.edu>
On February 13, 2001 violist Ursula Plaichinger became the first
non-harpist woman to win an audition for the Vienna State Opera. After a
three year tenure, members of the State Opera Orchestra become members of the Vienna Philharmonic. Ms. Plaichinger should have entered the Vienna Philharmonic 14 months ago, but she has still not been made a member. She would have been the first non-harpist woman to join the Vienna Philharmonic in its 156 year history.
There is an application procedure and vote necessary for entering the
Philharmonic, but it is merely a formality. There has never been a
documented case of a member of the State Opera Orchestra being denied
membership in the Philharmonic after the tenure requirement is completed.
It is also noteworthy that all of the men who have completed the tenure
requirement and who entered the orchestra after Ms. Plaichinger, have been made members. She alone has been left out.
Very little information is available that might explain why Ms. Plaichinger
has not been made a member. The Vienna Philharmonic offers one of the most prestigious and high-paying orchestra jobs in the world. It seems unlikely that Ms. Plaichinger would not have applied for membership unless something put her under extreme duress.
Two months ago Ms. Plaichinger took a leave of absence from the orchestra
and is now living in Amsterdam. She occasionally returns to Vienna to play
in various ensembles.
Given that she would have been the first non-harpist woman to enter the
orchestra, the Austrian media should have long since inquired about what is
going on, but there have been no reports. It is a difficult story to
research, because the members of the Vienna Philharmonic have been
-strictly- forbidden to speak with the press -- except by special
permission and while they are monitored by the orchestra's officials.
It has now been eight years since the Vienna Philharmonic agreed to open
its doors to women, but they have still not given a single non-harpist
woman membership. Even if many expected that this sort of thing would
probably happen, it is still very troubling and saddening news. If there
are any new developments concerning Ms. Plaichinger's status, I will keep
you updated as I learn of them.
[You may forward this post.]
William Osborne
100260.243@compuserve.com
http://www.osborne-conant.org
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Author: muse432
Date: 2005-11-07 15:24
HI,
I can't belive this type of discrimination is still among players or music organizations today. We players are soppose to be the well mannered among the grusome civilizations that has formed today.
Have you talked with Ms. Plaichinger yourself??
maybe she knows more about the subject?
Post Edited (2005-11-07 15:26)
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2005-11-07 16:02
Would people make this amount of fuss if the Wiener Philharmoniker were an all-woman ensemble that had treated a man shabbily?
(Ducks for cover.)
-----------
If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: muse432
Date: 2005-11-07 16:24
David Peacham wrote:
> Would people make this amount of fuss if the Wiener
> Philharmoniker were an all-woman ensemble that had treated a
> man shabbily?
>
> (Ducks for cover.)
>
I would have to say YES ofcourse, theres no need for any type of discrimination among sexes.
Post Edited (2005-11-07 16:25)
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Author: GoatTnder
Date: 2005-11-07 16:32
Well, if a group touted themselves as an all-woman ensemble, that would be different. No one complains that girls aren't allowed in the Vienna Boys Choir...
Andres Cabrera
South Bay Wind Ensemble
www.SouthBayWinds.com
sbwe@sbmusic.org
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2005-11-07 17:51
> I can't belive this type of discrimination is still among players or music
> organizations today.
But I am not in the least surprised.
These guys there obviously fear competition. Each woman admitted would mean one prestigious position less for a man. (And I won't go into racial discrimination, I bet it's just quite as bad)
Maybe it's about time the authorities cut funding for entities like these, however excellent they might be.
http://www.osborne-conant.org/status.htm
http://www.osborne-conant.org/ozawa.htm
--
Ben
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2005-11-07 18:13
If no one at the Vienna Philharmonic would speak on the subject, they must have better security and more loyalty than the White House. Surely an unnamed source would say something about the situation. (Or is that a concept known only in U.S. journalism?)
Maybe I'm mistaken, but my first assumption about the Vienna Boys Choir would be that they want the particular sound of boy's voices, just as an oboe wouldn't be invited to join a clarinet choir. In contrast, in an orchestral playing, women in general don't have a different sound than men.
If the voices and pitch ranges of boys and girls aren't much different (are they?) at the age of VBC members, maybe someone should start complaining about descrimination (assuming that there is a qualified girl who wants to join). If there is sexual descrimination in the Vienna Philharmonic, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think that there might be the same in the Vienna Boys Choir.
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Author: BassetHorn
Date: 2005-11-07 18:22
What is new about this? Visible minorities in the white male-dominant societies face discrimination as way of life, why should music endeavours that equate money and power be any different? And why should the authorities rock the boat at the risks of losing their jobs and social connections? Remember, the more prestigious the club, the more limited the membership.
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Author: JessKateDD
Date: 2005-11-07 18:29
Of course they are an all-male orchestra, which is apparent from their name - the Wiener Philharmoniker.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2005-11-07 18:44
JessKateDD wrote:
> Of course they are an all-male orchestra, which is apparent
> from their name - the Wiener Philharmoniker.
Ba-da-boom ... 
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2005-11-07 18:49
> Ba-da-boom ...
Do you double as percussionist?
--
Ben
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2005-11-07 19:12
tictactux wrote:
> > Ba-da-boom ...
>
> Do you double as percussionist?
For the right price ...
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Author: GoatTnder
Date: 2005-11-08 15:03
>Maybe I'm mistaken, but my first assumption about the Vienna Boys Choir
>would be that they want the particular sound of boy's voices, just as an oboe
>wouldn't be invited to join a clarinet choir. In contrast, in an orchestral playing,
>women in general don't have a different sound than men.
Then how about a youth symphony not accepting adults? The point is, if they were touted as specifically all-male or all-female, no one would have a problem. The problem arises if the group makes no explicit gender restrictions but uses them implicitly when selecting members.
Andres Cabrera
South Bay Wind Ensemble
www.SouthBayWinds.com
sbwe@sbmusic.org
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2005-11-08 23:17
I don't know what the Austrian law says about discrimination in general. In my country this wouldn’t be legally possible. To it’s structure the Wiener Philharmoniker is a private men’s club and a more or less closed society so I guess they can get around the legal system somehow. It’s like a masonsic lodge. Officially I don’t think they have anything to do with the Statsoper more than that’s the only orchestra from where they recruit all their members from.
Alphie
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Author: Phat Cat
Date: 2005-11-09 03:34
So, we have two human species assumed to be long extinct surviving much more recently than originally thought. After archeological evidence of a pygmy race in SE Asia just 5000 years ago, now we have Neanderthals still living in Europe. Remarkable.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2005-11-09 07:00
> (...) now we have Neanderthals still living in Europe. Remarkable.
Why do you hate the Neanderthals so much?
Problem with the comparison of the Philharmoniker and a Masonic lodge is that the latter is self-sufficient while the former gets public funding. I don't know if the funding entity (the state) could get into trouble by openly supporting a group which (probably) violates EU anti-discrimination law. If it were a strictly private party, okay (not that it would make it any better). But obviously the result justifies the deed...
(Well I better shut up, considering how long it took here for women go get voting rights :-\ )
--
Ben
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2005-11-09 07:15
I'm not sure that the Vienna Philharmonic itself gets any public funding anymore. I think they have enough to be self-sufficient. Once you become a permanent member you get access to all the royalty funds and that's where the big money is in the organisation. Correct me if I'm wrong!?
Alphie
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2005-11-09 07:29
> I'm not sure that the Vienna Philharmonic itself gets any public funding
> anymore.
I stand corrected.
It's the Staatsoper (and the Staatsoper orchestra) that gets the funding. But as every member of the Philharmoniker must be an employee of the Staatsoper the argument of "Philharmoniker funding" is moot anyway...
--
Ben
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2007-01-02 05:53
Just watched Zubin Metha and the Vienna Phil doing their New Years' concert for PBS.
One woman in the whole band; I thought that she was playing violin, not viola.
Memory of Ernst (Carnival of Venice) was a gas, but the clarinets were ignored. What's the excuse for that, Herr Strauss? The piccolo player's variation was just awesome. He drew handshakes from the bassoonist, and Metha. The flutist seemed perturbed not to get the same attention from the conductor.
Having just watched the ballroom dancing championships (also on PBS), it was odd to see people dancing waltzes en pointe!
Bob Phillips
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Author: BobD
Date: 2007-01-02 13:11
.....and the harp player appeared to be male
Bob Draznik
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2007-01-02 15:38
Male harp player, I think you're right; but he was very, very pretty.
Probably could pluck that sucker and get mostly the right notes, tho.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2007-01-02 16:07
I thought the lady was playing viola...the harp player did look a little sweet.
Zubin has turned into a fat old hack.
I'm so critical...another new year's resolution down the drain.
If they're so adamant about Viennese players for the Vinennse sound, why don't they get a Vinennese conductor?
Zubin did get the Kennedy Medal, along with Dolly Parton and Smoky Robinson. That's heady company! You go Zubie!
Clarinet Redux
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2007-01-03 00:39
i think that Cronkite said that this was Zubie's 4th time to do the NY concert; and that he hails from them parts.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Bartmann
Date: 2007-01-03 14:01
First of all we really don't know why Frau Plaichinger wasn't accepted into the Vienna Philharmonic. But if the members really didn't want her in, then why would she really want to play in an ensemble that rejects her.
As I see it, classical music is becoming increasingly performed by female players, (look at the female - mostly Asian - string player) that dominate most top American orchestras. Perhaps orchestras with a majority of men are in the minority today. So if Vienna wants their future players to be the sons of current players, what's the big deal.
The Vienna Philharmonic has a unique sound and in this era of decreased influence of "National Shools" of music, it's great to have such an orchestra that doesn't sound like all the others. Personally I like the variety.
Bart
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2007-01-03 21:11
It matters that this organization simply does not give the same opportunity to female players. This has nothing to do with the way they play or their "sound".
It may be right that more female players play in orchestras today, but I would be surprised to see that they are dominating. Do you have any data supporting your claims?
And even if they are making their way into orchestras, they rarely hold the best positions. Among the Big Five orchestras (Boston, NY, Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia), only Phillie has more than 3 female section leaders.
The big deal is that if you were a women whose dream was to play in the Vienna Philharmonic and you had better chops than the rest of the world, you would not be able get the job simply because of your gender. Maybe you don't find this outrageous, but I think it is pretty despicable.
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
Post Edited (2007-01-04 02:34)
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Author: Cuisleannach
Date: 2007-01-04 08:09
Perhaps they're scared.....I was talking from someone in one of the big symphonies in Europe quite a few years back.....may have been the LSO but I can't remember...... and they were talking about how when they finally started admitting women, the women had to be twice as good to be accepted. This policy turned around and bit them in the.....uh.....bell when they started realizing they had surrounded themselves with women who could play them into the ground.....sounds like just desserts to me!
It's really time to end discrimination except on the basis of playing ability
-Randy
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2007-01-04 08:42
Randy,
I think you hit the nail on the head.
If there are say 100 players in an orchestra, and they're all male, they have every reason to fear that statistically half of them lose their seats if they start admitting women. (assuming that women play just as good as men)
So "maintaining that typical sound" as an argument not to admit non-white non-male players can be seen as an acknowledgement of mediocrity as well as a musical or cultural achievement...
--
Ben
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2007-01-04 11:29
Bartmann wrote,
>>First of all we really don't know why Frau Plaichinger wasn't accepted into the Vienna Philharmonic.>>
Oh, please. Yes, we do know. The policies are well-documented.
>>But if the members really didn't want her in, then why would she really want to play in an ensemble that rejects her.>>
Maybe she would want to play in the ensemble *because* it rejected her *because* the people who did the rejecting are sexist jerks, *because* she would like to see that situation change and *because* only massive amounts of bad publicity from women refusing to drop the issue will force those changes to happen.
Bartmann wrote,
>>As I see it, classical music is becoming increasingly performed by female players, (look at the female - mostly Asian - string player) that dominate most top American orchestras. Perhaps orchestras with a majority of men are in the minority today. So if Vienna wants their future players to be the sons of current players, what's the big deal. >>
Well, then, why don't they change the name of their orchestra to the "Vienna Men's Orchestra," for instance? Hey, we've seen plenty of suggestions that women voluntarily enter the ghetto, but when women exclude men, the implication is that we women need to retreat into the harem because if we competed with the men, we'd always lose; whereas when men exclude women, the implication is that the men enjoy such obvious superiority that letting the little women in would lower the quality. The only exceptions I know of in music are men's choirs, where obviously the range and timbre of the voice *does* have everything to do with ability to perform a certain repertory.
As a stained glass designer-builder, I turned down scads of invitations to join various "women in the arts" museum exhibits, cooperatives, craft fairs, etc.. I turned these down on grounds that they were sexist and that I wanted to compete alongside the men or not at all, and on grounds that if we didn't want men to exclude us, then we shouldn't exclude men. If gender has nothing to do with the ability to do the work, then gender should have nothing to do with the *opportunity* to do the work. Sexists sometimes make the excuse that the excluded women can always find jobs somewhere else (implication: someplace where we're welcome; someplace where we fit in--anyplace but *here*). Fine: If that's the case, and if women do take over some of the men's jobs in Vienna, then turnabout is fair play--those men can find jobs somewhere else, too. Women need to keep kicking at that closed door in Vienna until the door breaks.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2007-01-04 14:58
hooray for Lelia!
I'm an avid cyclist, and women-only rides just fry me. I'm told that these sessions just need to be low-key and avoid testosterone. Too bad, because a lot (or a few) of us males have the insight and experience to make riding more fun for persons of any gender.
We've so far avoided the contention that, since women are the product of Adam's spare parts, they need to be treated as 2nd classs entities.
Both of our genders need to grow up!
Bob Phillips
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Author: ginny
Date: 2007-01-04 15:55
Thanks Lelia, a good point,
Many years ago I played in a five member all "girls" band. I was recruited because I was a female instrumentalist who did not sing. (I avoided it, like refusing to learn to type for fear of that being all I would ever do.) At that time "girls" were never in bands except as a singer or very rarely as a bass player.
It served it's purpose like the Negro Leagues, it showed we could play and play well. The band still exists, though I quit many many years ago and has several men in it now. Oh and I learned to sing a bit.
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Author: Brian Peterson
Date: 2007-01-04 16:38
A question.
It's not there now, but given the reprehensible VPO men's only policy, why did I just see an ad for discount VPO tickets at the bottom of this page?
Brian
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2007-01-04 16:45
Brian Peterson wrote:
> It's not there now, but given the reprehensible VPO men's only
> policy, why did I just see an ad for discount VPO tickets at
> the bottom of this page?
Google has their own policies ... as do ticket agencies.
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Author: Mike Blinn
Date: 2007-03-20 04:54
I just received and watched the DVD of the 2007 New Year's concert, and I believe I saw three females: two violinists and a violist. Progress?
Mike Blinn
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-03-20 15:15
Mike -
In a word, no. Women are still hired only as subs and still have next to no chance to become members. Also, take a look at other top orchestras. Three women is disgraceful.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2007-03-22 12:11
>>Also, take a look at other top orchestras. Three women is disgraceful.>>
So disgraceful it's almost humorous. Women have made so much progress toward equal opportunity employment, in so many different professions, that it's tempting to write off the Vienna as an interesting fossil or simply leave it on display as an animatronic museum piece. However, I confess I'm not quite ready to laugh off misogynistic bigotry as a mere relic of the days before blind auditions. Not just yet.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: claaaaaarinet!!!!
Date: 2007-03-22 14:51
>>(And I won't go into racial discrimination, I bet it's just quite as bad)
My exposure to the Vienna Philharmonic was at a music festival in Austria that they sponsor every summer called Attergau. That summer, we students played alongside members of the VPO with Bobby McFerrin conducting. Following the Attergau Festival, the VPO left on a month-long tour under McFerrin. After spending several weeks in close contact with the VPO players, I could detect no racism among them what-so-ever. Knowing that the players are themselves responsible for hiring conductors, I consider the above claim about racial discrimination to be baseless. Consider also that Zubin Mehta is himself of Indian descent, and that one of the orchestra's most memorable relationships was with Leonard Bernstein, who is Jewish. The all-white make-up of the orchestra is attributable to the demographics of Austria and the tradition of the "Wiener Klangstil," not to discrimination.
>>I'm an avid cyclist, and women-only rides just fry me. I'm told that these >>sessions just need to be low-key and avoid testosterone.
It is interesting to me that a women-only bike ride would mention gender-specific hormones as a reason for the exclusion of men. Actually, they're right - hormones do in fact play a role in all kinds of gender characteristics, and we all know it. I don't see why musical dispositions are necessarily exempt. I heard the VPO play Mahler under Boulez in Salzburg, and I must say that it was a uniquely masculine performance. Consider the repertoire that the VPO is famous for: Beethoven, Bruckner, Mahler. I'm not saying that an all-male orchestra plays this rep better than a mixed one, but to me it does play it in a unique and complelling way. There are girl punk bands, girl hip-hop and R&B acts, female piano trios and string quartets, women's choruses, and female educational institutions, and I am all for it. I agree with Bartmann: "Personally I like the variety." Maybe the reason that the Austrian press hasn't made a big deal about the all-male VPO is because most Austrians don't care. Despite the hyper-PC tone of posts in this thread, in my view there is an overall lack of understanding and openmindedness displayed by most. It's their country, culture and orchestra - let them deal with it.
Post Edited (2007-03-22 14:57)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2007-03-22 15:16
claaaaaarinet!!!! wrote:
> I heard the VPO play Mahler under Boulez in Salzburg,
> and I must say that it was a uniquely masculine performance.
> Consider the repertoire that the VPO is famous for: Beethoven,
> Bruckner, Mahler. I'm not saying that an all-male orchestra
> plays this rep better than a mixed one, but to me it does play
> it in a unique and complelling way.
Of course, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, none of which you have provided.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2007-03-22 15:21
claaaaaarinet!!!! wrote:
> It's their
> country, culture and orchestra - let them deal with it.
Luckily, we can have rational discussions and make our spending decisions based upon them.
I wonder how long the VPO would be touring and receiving income from recordinds if a loud & boisterous crowd was at the entrance to every venue outside Austria - and the media made a big deal of it.
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2007-03-22 15:31
claaaaaarinet!!!!
Maybe you are right, maybe a man playing Mahler will sound different than a woman. Although I would challenge anybody to discriminate between the two in a blind study. Maybe an all-man orchestra makes sense, but then let them announce it loud and proud put it in their bylaws and be done with it. Nothing wrong with an all men club. On the other hand, if they claim to be an equal opportunity employer then they are a not so refined kind of hypocrite.
And as your comment: "It's their country, culture and orchestra - let them deal with it.", maybe you're right. Maybe it is nobody's business but Austrian's to care about this. On the other hand, equal opportunity for human of various genetic make-ups may not be high on your list of priorities, but to some it's a pretty important human right. Talking about and verbally condemning sexist or racist behaviors is the least we should do.
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: claaaaaarinet!!!!
Date: 2007-03-22 20:35
>Of course, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, none of which >you have provided.
The sound issue is a subjective one, so a "proof" is impossible. Even if it were possible, the burden of proof falls as much on those demanding change as on anyone. Besides, the distinct character of the Boulez reading that I've described above derived as much from the group dynamic on stage as from an actual, measurable sound difference. Again, just to be clear, that's my opinion. Just last week members of the VPO were in residency at the New World Symphony, an orchestra that is as forward thinking as any. If New World believed that the VPO was full of chauvinist jerks, why would they call them in to mentor their fellows? It just goes to show that everyone has accepted long ago that females are as capable as males in the orchestra. That fact HAS been proven a thousand times over, and the VPO know it better than anyone since it is being pointlessly and continuously crammed down their throats.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2007-03-22 21:17
claaaaaarinet!!!! wrote:
> >Of course, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof,
> none of which >you have provided.
>
> The sound issue is a subjective one, so a "proof" is
> impossible. Even if it were possible, the burden of proof
> falls as much on those demanding change as on anyone.
You made the claim of "masculinity", you're required to show proof.
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2007-03-23 01:03
Post Edited (2015-12-23 05:58)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2007-03-23 01:33
Some of will vote with our wallet and will continue in our attempts at bringing this to the forefront by providing information (yes, Bradley, there are "facts" involved if you care to look) or by visibly protesting. If the VPO puts Detroit on their circuit I most certainly will buy some radio ads and get the local politicians involved to spread the word if they so will. Whether or not that does anything at all in my area of the will be up to me and others of like mind.
Of course people are welcome to ignore anything I say or do, but I most certainly will use this "bully pulpit" to inform as well as I can the rest of the world in what I feel is an injustice to musicians of any gender.
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2007-03-23 01:36
I am afraid Bradley has not touched one aspect of the arguement here in anyway...the arguement is about ability not gender!! Women of incredible ability cannot play in this orchestra and that is an atrocity.
David Dow
Post Edited (2007-03-23 01:36)
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2007-03-23 01:47
Post Edited (2015-12-23 05:57)
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2007-03-23 01:50
Post Edited (2015-12-23 05:57)
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2007-03-23 02:43
Bradley here is one major difference between the VPO and the other organization you talk about:
From the first post:
"It has now been eight years since the Vienna Philharmonic agreed to open
its doors to women, but they have still not given a single non-harpist
woman membership."
If you cannot make it to the National Youth Orchestra it is because you are not Canadian and that it is a requirement in order to enter the orchestra. If you can't get in the Berlin Phil because you play Boehm it is stated in the audition form. I also cannot win any young artist competition because I am not young enough, at least the rules have been made clear. The VPO on the other hand has officially agreed to accept women as members yet has not done so. It'd probably be easier and faster for you to become a canadian citizen, audition for the National Youth Orchestra, than for a woman to become a member of the VPO.
--
Sylvain Bouix <sbouix@gmail.com>
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Author: awm34
Date: 2007-03-30 16:02
From the Alex Ross "Musical Events" column in the current (April 2) edition of The New Yorker magazine:
"In the sharpness of their musical characterizations, the Leipzigers outclassed the Viennese, who did not have their best outing in the all-Bartok program I heard. A decade after the Philharmonic announced that it would begin admitting women to its ranks, it still has only one fully accredited female member (Charlotte Balzereit, a harpist). It is also blindingly white. Defenders maintain that the Philharmonic cannot abandon its storied traditions in the name of Americanized notions of political correctness, but the chief argument for diversity is, in fact, aesthetic. The Viennese sound is showing symptoms of atrophy; witness the excessively polished, inert rendition of Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta that ended the program. The orchestra may have to draw on a wider array of talent if it is to hold its place at the pinnacle."
Alan Messer
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2007-03-30 18:35
This "Viennese sound" argument is a red herring drug across the trail to turn attention away from the cookie cutter, white male, composition of the VPO. How could anyone argue (with any degree of honesty) that only one gender/race combination can maintain that certain "sound".
As noted in awm34's post, some feel that the "select" group has not been able to keep the sound from changing over time - you can't blame that on the lone harpist who doesn't "belong" in there.
Eu
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The Clarinet Pages
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