Richard Dyer’s article appearing in today’s Boston Globe should receive an award for being the only article about this mess in Baltimore which comes as far away as possible from hitting the mark…
In the article Dyer paints the musicians as a bunch of sexist, misogynist dinosaurs who only want to play standard repertoire,
No musicians are going to say they object to Alsop because she is a woman. Libel considerations prevent their attacking her musicianship. Are there problems with her commitment to contemporary music, especially American music? Could the Baltimore Symphony still believe that the mainstream 19th- and early-20th-century European repertoire is the only valid test of musical importance, the only thing that is going to attract the public?
Perhaps Richard didn’t read Tim Page’s article in the 7/19/05 edition of The Washington Post or he may have found a few answers to those questions.
Dyer’s article goes onto make some really incredible statement such as,
Alsop’s musicianship surely cannot be in question.
Music is, at best, subjective. Anyone’s musicianship can be questioned; conductor, soloist, or orchestra musician. If anyone is aware of that fact, it should be a music critic. It’s obvious that the gist of Dyer’s article is about Marin, but that misses the point. This mess in Baltimore has never been about any conductor, rather, it’s about the crippling internal problems between the musicians, and executive managers & board members.
As the musician’s statement following the board’s vote on Tuesday said, they will work with any conductor who comes to Baltimore with equal skill and effort. They’re professionals, and that’s what pros do. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean they aren’t allowed to have their own opinions and thoughts about the process their organization should use to determine their artistic leaders. To say otherwise is to reduce their contribution to the organization as a mere cog in a wheel, easily replaced and expendable.
It take years, if not decades, of hard work for an orchestra to develop a unique sound worthy or artistic distinction. Dyer’s article makes it seem as though the players are merely crying sour grapes at being outvoted in the search committee process,
The Baltimore players were consulted but overruled, and it’s clear they don’t like it — and they can’t say why. It could be that they are suffering delusions of grandeur –
It’s clear that Dyer doesn’t understand the process the BSO used during the search process or the reasons behind why it developed the way it did (although he could have caught a clue by reading one of my postings from a few days ago).
In the end it is sloppy (Richard apparently missed that article from the Washington Post), opinionated (he believes some conductor’s musicianship is beyond question), and vitriolic (“it could be that [the BSO musicians] are suffering from delusions of grandeur”) writing like this which only adds to the problems within the business.
There’s much, much more going on inside the Baltimore symphony which deserves attention. It’s too bad Richard doesn’t appear to know about any of it.
Ditto the NYT’s Tommasini. See my
http://www.soundsandfury.com/soundsandfury/2005/07/monumental_stup.html
Regards,
ACD
We had Marin Alsop on NPR’s Performance Today on Friday, and what she had to say was thoughtful of the players, intelligent, and MATURE. You can hear the whole interview online at http://www.npr.org. Click through to Performance Today for 7/21/05.
Marty Ronish
Editor, NPR Music Unit
No orchestra that programs
the “red violin” can be taken
in a serious light .