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The Naked Nexus of Music and Politics (An analysis of WNYC's program about the Vienna Philharmonic broadcast on March 11, 2005)
March 14, 2005 by William Osborne
On March 11, 2005, New York City's NPR affiliate, WNYC, presented a 25 minute segment about the Vienna Philharmonic as part of its program "Sound Check" -- a weekday afternoon talk show about music and culture hosted by John Schaefer. According
to the producer, Brian Wise, the topics of discussion were to include, “the
Vienna Philharmonic's employment practices, what progress has and hasn't been
made in hiring women, the orchestra's unique sound, and whether it would be
affected by women members.” The
participants were to be William Osborne and Abbie Conant, as
well as James Oestreich (the New York Times critic who has often served
as an apologist for the orchestra), and members of the Vienna Philharmonic.
The Philharmonic later stipulated that they would speak only alone in a separate segment. A short time later they withdrew completely, as did James Oestreich. Mark Swed, a music critic for the Los Angeles Times, was obtained as a replacement for Oestreich. Swed was given a separate segment.
Our Interview The host, John Schaefer, served as the devil's advocate for the discussion, but he also seemed to be a fan of the Vienna Philharmonic. He vigorously defended the orchestra. He also co-moderated a broadcast of the Philharmonic's concert that evening in Carnegie Hall, along with Fred Child, host of NPR's "Performance Today." Schaefer's general position was that the Vienna Philharmonic can change only slowly, because it must preserve its musical traditions.
He
began the program by explaining that the orchestra had
declined an invitation to participate. We
then discussed the most recent statistics for women in the ensemble. Since 1997, the Vienna State Opera has held auditions for 35 positions and
has hired 5 women. The last two
are tutti violinists who were auditioned only about two weeks ago.
For the last eight years the m/f hiring
ratio has been about 10 to 1. With
the two new women it rises to about 7 to 1. To illustrate that the Vienna State Opera/Vienna Philharmonic is still discriminating, we mentioned comparative statistics for similar orchestras in the German-speaking world, such as in Zurich and Leipzig. Zurich is an especially useful example, because it is a very similar, state-owned opera house in a small German-speaking country. During the period that Vienna hired its first 3 women, Zurich hired 20. Two thirds of the new positions in Zurich have been filled by women, but only one tenth of the new positions in Vienna.[1]
Schaefer said the contracts in Zurich and Leipzig are different and that this accounts for the different ratios of employment. We pointed out that the contracts for orchestras are virtually identical throughout the German-speaking world -- a trial year and then a lifetime appointment. When Schaefer continued insisting that the orchestra wasn't particularly doing anything wrong or unusual, I mentioned the 10 to 1 (or more recently 7 to 1) employment ratios and asked, "What are we supposed to think, that women are just inferior?"
Abbie
and I explained our view that if the Vienna Philharmonic used blind auditions in all rounds
this would eliminate most possibilities for prejudice.
(In blind auditions, the candidates play behind a screen to hide their
physical appearance.) We noted that even some of the orchestra’s
apologists, such as James Oestreich, have said it should use completely blind
auditions.[3]
Schaefer countered
that the Philharmonic’s discrimination is no different from other orchestras
-- even in the States. He
suggested American orchestras discriminate against blacks and Latinos. Aside from seeming specious, Schaefer's argument is problematic. The lack of Latinos and blacks in American orchestras is indeed acute, but stems mostly from extremely serious societal and cultural barriers, not specific acts of discrimination. According to U.S. law, orchestras caught discriminating can be sued for millions and forced to integrate. The penalties in Austria, however, are minimal (one to two months salary for the lost job) and excluded persons or groups still do not have to be employed. This is why the Vienna State Opera orchestra's exclusion of women has been ignored for decades, even though it is owned and operated by the government. And worse, according to European law, the Vienna Philharmonic, in its nominally private formation, is not even subject to laws against discrimination.
We were, nevertheless, happy to discuss the lack of minorities in American classical music. We mentioned that black musicians represent only about 2 percent of the membership in American orchestras. We discussed the irony that we often attend classical concerts where almost everyone is white, and then return to our neighborhood in upper Manhattan where almost everyone is black. The social dichotomies divide along racial lines that are extreme and unjustifiable. [Our normal residence is in Germany, but we have been in New York for a few months on sabbatical.]
Schaefer
asked why we were concerned about the Vienna Philharmonic not hiring women.
Aside from sexism being a self-evident problem in itself, we pointed
out that the Vienna Philharmonic needs women to maintain its standards.
We noted that even the Philharmonic complains it's having trouble
finding qualified members trained in Austrian traditions.
The country has 16 full-time orchestras for a population of only 8
million.[4] This already small talent pool is reduced by half through
sexism. In addition, the majority
of the string graduates from Austria's music schools are women.[5]
Without them, there are simply not enough good candidates.
We
noted that since the Vienna Philharmonic overlooks Austrian women, it has to
turn to foreign men. We discussed
the current turmoil in the low brass section.
They have hired an English first trombonist who refuses to
play a German trombone. [The
sound of the German trombone is different.
We feel this new trombonist is wrong not to use a German trombone in the Vienna Philharmonic. He should be honored to accept the orchestra’s
musical traditions and
instrumentation.] Schaefer
broke to read a statement from the Vienna Philharmonic that their PR agent had
given WNYC. It didn't contain
anything especially newsworthy other than the latest stats for the number of
women in the State Opera Orchestra. Schaefer asked if the Philharmonic should hire women even if they were not the most qualified, in order to integrate them into the orchestra. He asked if they should, for example, hire a black Latina, even if a white man had won first place. I think he meant to keep things hypothetical, but somehow there seemed to be a slight tone of resentment and irritation in his question. Abbie felt offended by the question. She asked why we should assume women and minorities would be "second rate." To take the heat off of him, and keep the conversation going, I said the best candidate should always be accepted. I reminded him that the majority of the graduates of Austria’s conservatories are women, especially among the strings, but that men have been about ten times more likely to get jobs in the Philharmonic. I asked if he thought that was a problem. Some music softly emerged and the interview ended. We were ushered out of the studio. This
sounds confrontational when briefly described in written words, but there was
actually a fairly relaxed flow to the discussion.
For one thing, Abbie and I both had the flu.
The Interview of Mark Swed The second half of the segment was a telephone interview with Mark Swed, music critic for the Los Angeles Times. Before the show began, the producer, Brian Wise, explained that they couldn't coordinate live and telephone discussions, and that Swed would be interviewed in a separate segment after us. This was actually not true. While waiting for the show to begin, we listened to the program that was currently being broadcast. It involved people in the studio and a woman on the phone from out of state.
Since we were not allowed to participate, we listened to Swed's interview from
a speaker in the ceiling of a nearby hallway.
He
said women are not applying for the orchestra because they did not
want to be "pioneers"
-- though he did not really explain what that would entail. They
would face an intimidating and hostile
atmosphere from many members of the orchestra that is in itself a form of sexism.
He also neglected to mention that the 10 to 1 employment ratio has
discouraged women from applying. Swed
said the Vienna Philharmonic is not a “monolith” and that many of the
younger men in the orchestra support women.
He did not mention that about one third of the orchestra still opposes
women [6], and that this makes it difficult for them to win auditions. The
differences between the candidates at that level are often razor thin.
With one third of the orchestra against women, the scales are easily
tilted. Due to the prejudice, reasoned
judgments about the subtle differences between players are hindered.
Swed cited the Berlin Philharmonic as an exemplar of positive change, noting that it has filled its ranks with many women. In reality, women represent a12 percent of the Berlin Philharmonic 24 years after they were first admitted. Some members of the Berlin Philharmonic still express views strikingly similar to those found in Vienna. In an interview with Swedish National Radio, broadcast on March 10, 2003, the first cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic, Georg Faust, spoke about its all-male cello section, which regularly performs as an independent ensemble. He said they are like a pop music "boy group": “Of
course - we are all human beings. If you are a group of twelve men, and one
woman comes in, I am absolutely sure it will change the whole situation. It
will change the image because part of our success is that we are 12 men. We
can easily see this when we go to Japan. We are like a boy group. […] Yes.
Back Street violoncellists. Boy group.
Because the audience is 90 % women. So
this shows that this kind of energy we produce as 12 men - as 12 cellists -
and 12 men, is something very strong, is very homogenous and very unique in a
way.” To
further explain this male unity, he relates it to sports, and then adds a strange allusion: [We’re]
like a football team: The same instruments, it's 12 players of the same
instrument. It's always a feeling of competition. Always a certain kind of
pressure. Because everybody knows
the other person very, very well. He knows what he can do and what he can't
do. They are like 12 dogs. They all need their certain room and they all have
their ‘revier’.” Questions of "revier" aside, Berlin illustrates how sexist attitudes can remain in an orchestra for decades, even after it begins admitting women. It has been 24 years, and they still speak of the cello section as a "boy group" that delights a female public. Similar patterns will likely be followed in Vienna and make the integration of women a long and difficult process.
Swed
commented that the Vienna Philharmonic is now much more international and even has
players from Japan.
The Philharmonic has traditionally excluded people of
color, because they feel that such individuals would destroy the
ensemble’s image of Austrian
authenticity.[7]
This policy is especially directed toward Asians.[8]
In reality,
the Vienna Philharmonic hired their first person of color in 2003, the
Japanese tubist, Yasuto Sugiyama.[9]
Swed
did not mention (and probably didn't know) that Sugiyama’s contract is being
terminated at the end of this season. The
Vienna Philharmonic will once again be the only all-white major orchestra in
the world.
The host, John Schaefer, falsely claimed that the Vienna Philharmonic has used a lot of women conductors -- a repeat of misleading information by Anne Midgette in a recent article in the New York Times.[10] Swed, who wasn't completely sure of the facts, said he thought that only the orchestra’s opera formation had used women conductors. He was correct, but not certain, so Schaefer's false information was left hanging in the air.
(The
administration of the Vienna State Opera chooses its conductors and two women have
been engaged, one of them a few times. In
its Philharmonic formation, the orchestra chooses its own conductors. They have never used a woman
-- nor have they have ever played a composition by a woman.) Swed
said the State Opera Orchestra has close to 200 members, which is false.
It has 149.[11]
Swed said the Philharmonic is a smaller subset of the opera
orchestra. This is false. All members of the opera orchestra become members of the Philharmonic after a three year
tenure. A vote is held, but until
women entered the orchestra, it was generally considered just a formality.[12] They discussed the Vienna Philharmonic's sound and instrumentation, but unfortunately Swed could not say very much since he is not very well informed on that subject either. Abbie's job as a professor in Germany is to train German and Austrian musicians. We could have contributed a lot to this part of the discussion...but we were in the hallway. [For detailed information on our website about German and Viennese instruments click here.] At the end, Swed added that Vienna is a more progressive city than New York. Even Schaefer seemed a little incredulous.
Conclusion
If we had been included in the second half of the program, it would have obviously been more accurate and balanced. We could have also added interesting and helpful information about the orchestra's unique sound, phrasing, and instrumentation. People were left with misinformation, and a false impression about the Vienna Philharmonic’s willingness to admit women. John Schaefer was responsible.
A program that genuinely examined the Vienna Philharmonic's on-going chauvinistic attitudes, and the way they are discretely supported by the American musical establishment, would not fit within the conservative, bourgeois norms of classical music and WNYC's style of consensus journalism. It would also be a deep embarrassment and threat to classical music's corporate structures as represented by institutions such as Carnegie Hall and Columbia Artists Management International. Under these circumstances, WNYC had to be cautious.
Bill Marimow is managing editor for national news at NPR. He has commented on the problem of balanced reporting:
It seems that Swed was the best impartial expert WNYC could find on short notice. The originally planned guest, James Oestreich, music critic for the New York Times, would not have been impartial at all. He is an apologist for the orchestra, and that might have something to do with why he withdrew. Unfortunately, Swed was not well-informed about the Vienna Philharmonic. In an attempt to play the role of an impartial expert, he assisted those who attempt to rationalize the Vienna Philharmonic's questionable employment practices.
Before WNYC's broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic's Carnegie Hall concert, composer Peter Garland presented an hour long program of historic Philharmonic recordings, which he described as, "Superior music by a superior orchestra." This description is a curious formulation, since the Vienna Philharmonic has traditionally held that gender and racial uniformity give it aesthetic superiority. The orchestra currently has only 1 women out of 136 positions, and its only full person of color has recently had his contract terminated. Even a Downtown composer such as Garland, who by definition would normally be thought of as radically independent and progressive, must accommodate himself to practices such as the Vienna Philharmonic's in order to work as a journalist in the classical music establishment.[14]
The program with the
interviews of Abbie Conant, Mark Swed, and myself is available as a
streaming sound file in
WNYC’s archives.
I feel it illustrates the misinformation, mentalities, and discriminatory methods women in music still confront. Were there subtle manipulations of the truth? Did Schaefer have an agenda and did Swed play along? Or was it all just "good journalism?" Listen to the program and decide for yourself. I am reluctant to insist, since I was an interested party directly involved.
ENDNOTES
[1] Peter
Schneeberger, "Die
Zwei-Prozent-Gesellschaft" profil (February 24, 2003). [2] ibid. [3] James R.
Oestreich, "Vienna
Philharmonic: Keeping That Sound (and Everything Else) as Is",
New York Times (September 26, 1999.)
He writes, "Maybe the fresh winds now blowing through these
venerable precincts will [4] Elena Ostleitner, Liebe, Lust, Last und Lied (Wien, Bundesministerium fuer Unterricht und Kunst, 1995) In the interview, I mistakenly gave the population of Austria at 11 million. That is incorrect, the population is only 8.14 million. [5] Elena Ostleitner, Liebe, Lust, Last und Lied (Wien, Bundesministerium fuer Unterricht und Kunst, 1995). [6] Peter
Schneeberger, "Die
Zwei-Prozent-Gesellschaft" profil (February 24, 2003). [7] Roland Girtler, "Mitgliedsaufnahme in den Noblen Bund der Wiener Philharmoniker Als Mannbarkeitsritual", Sociologia Internationalis, Beiheft 1 (1992). [8] ibid. [9] "Tubaist is first Japanese to make Vienna Philharmonic",
Mainichi Daily News (June 25, 2003). [11] Clemens Hellsberg, Demokratie der Koenige: Die Geschichte der Wiener Philharmoniker (Zurich: Schweizer Verlagshaus: Wien: Kremayr & Scheriau; Mainz: Musikverlag Schott, 1992) [12] ibid. [13] The quote is from an article by the NPR ombusman about good journalistic practices. It is well worth reading and can be found at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4536130 [14] In general, American journalism might be in crisis. Partisan political groups and economic pressures seem to even be affecting NPR, PBS and their affiliates such as WNYC. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Laurie Garrett, recently left the for-profit Newsday due to the loss of its quality. In her letter of resignation, she wrote: "All across America news organizations have been devoured by massive corporations - and allegiance to stockholders, the drive for higher share prices, and push for larger dividend returns trumps everything that the grunts in the newsrooms consider their missions." She went on to write, "This is terrible for democracy. I have been in 47 states of the USA since 9/11, and I can attest to the horrible impact the deterioration of journalism has had on the national psyche. I have found America a place of great and confused fearfulness. She continues: "It would be easy to descend into despair, not only about the state of journalism, but the future of American democracy. But giving up is not an option. There is too much at stake."
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