Friday, March 14, 1997
San Diego Union Tribune
Page Ba

Denting the Philharmonic men's club

by Anne Gray

Anne Gray, a musicologist, is the author of "The Popular Guide to Classical Music" and "The Popular Guide to Women in Classical Music." She is an international speaker.

On Feb. 27, in Austria's capital, the members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, bowing to pressure brought by U.S. women's organizations, and not wanting to jeopardize their forthcoming American tour with threatened boycotts, voted to allow a woman -- namely, harpist Anna Lelkes -- to become a full member with a vote. She had only been waiting for this moment since 1974. (The other harpist is a man, Harald Kautzky.)

Somewhere between archaic and ludicrous were reasons given by musicians and management for the 155-year exclusion of women by this, almost the last bastion of male exclusivity.

"There are no girls in the Vienna Boys' Choir." (Why no Vienna Girls' choir?)

"Mass pregnancy . . . would bring disorder." (Need statistics for mass impregnation.)

"Women distract men." (This cop-out can be traced to prehistoric times.)

And the most telling of attitude:

"You won't find pigs (performing) with the Lippizaner stallions!" (Referring to the famed dressage horses in Vienna's Spanish Riding School, founded in 1680.)

Anna Lelkes, now 57, was hired Jan. 1, 1971, by the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, from which the Philharmonic draws its members. There is a mandatory three-year period before any opera musicians are accepted into the Philharmonic. Thus she joined the latter in 1974, and was placed at the edge of the stage, where she would not "disturb the emotional unity," according to Walter Resel, VPO president, who plans to retire in September.

The orchestra dates back to 1833, as a small amateur group formed by Franz Lachner, a friend of Schubert. It became professional and assumed the name Philharmonic in 1842. Surviving the Revolution of 1848 and two world wars, the succession of conductors reads like a Who's Who of world-famous maestros:

Otto Nicolai to 1847, Otto Dessoff (1860-75), who introduced the music of Wagner, Liszt and Brahms into the repertoire, Hans Richter (1875-98), who showcased Dvorak and premiered Brahms' 2nd (1877) and 3rd (1892) Symphonies -- Brahms was soloist in his D minor Piano Concerto (1871), and conducted his Variations on the St. Anthony Chorale (1873). In 1872, Wagner directed a concert of excerpts from Tannhauser, Tristan and Isolde and Die Walkure.

Bruckner led the disastrous first performance of his 3rd Symphony in 1877. Gustav Mahler (1898-1901) ushered in the new century and new music, followed by Felix Weingartner (1908-27), Wilhelm Furtwangler (1927-28 -- and during World War II, for which he was stigmatized as a Nazi, but absolved after the war); Clemens Krauss (1828-33), who began the New Year's Day Concert tradition; Bruno Walter (1933-38), and guests like Toscanini, Schoenberg, De Sabata and Mengelberg before Austria was taken over by Hitler.

Since World War II, this first completely self-governing orchestra has chosen prominent guest conductors, including Claudio Abbado in the '70s, Herbert von Karajan, Riccardo Muti and Daniel Barenboim, who directed them in the present notorious tour, with concerts on both coasts, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, and New York's Carnegie Hall.

Protesters representing the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM) gathered in a nearby Italian restaurant, ate a hearty meal, walked sedately to the site and handed out flyers and buttons to the dulcet accompaniment of duets by a flutist and violinist.

The media had a field night. There were even representatives from European TV and newspapers. Patrons either avoided the group by going in through the garage entrance, or hurried past to enjoy their money's worth.

Despite the fabled VPO "sound" which touts this orchestra to be unsurpassed, and which forms the bedrock of its prejudicial stand against having anyone other than -- in the words of their flutist, Dieter Flury -- "white-skinned men, performing the music of white-skinned male composers," the reviews of their rendition of Mozart's Symphony No. 29 and Bruckner's 9th contained adjectives like "lifeless" and "embalmed"; while the March 5 program, featuring Beethoven's First Piano Concerto and Richard Strauss' tone poem, Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life) fared only slightly better with the critics. Heldenleben featured Lelkes' only appearance, relegated to second harp in a piece marked (ironically) by rather banal writing for her instrument.

Although the gesture to include women has been made, it may prove to be a hollow one. In the first place, candidates must still enclose a photograph with their applications. Secondly, the promised open auditions will be just that, not behind a screen.

Only the future will show if pressure by women's groups within their own country will make a further dent in fraternal armor. Whereas the VPO is a private organization, the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, of which they are all members, is funded by the government, and Austrian Chancellor Viktor Klima has publicly told the orchestra that there was "creative potential in the other half of humanity, and this should be used."

Anna Lelkes, was quoted the day after her "victory", "Strictly speaking, until yesterday I did not exist officially . . . They have always stated -- in my presence! -- that they do not have a woman." (The first time her name appeared on a program was in 1995, when the orchestra played at Carnegie Hall.) After years of requesting membership, she is happy at last. Having accomplished her goal, we hope she will scotch those rumors about her imminent retirement . . .

March 1-2, 1997
People Online Daily
SOUND OF MUSIC

For the first time in its 155-year history, the Vienna Philharmonic has finally broken the gender barrier: The august -- and socially conservative -- classical music group will now admit women, reports The New York Times. After a significant and historic meeting in the Austrian capital Thursday, Anna Leikes, a harpist, will be the first woman to join as a full-fledged member. The Vienna, as it is nicknamed, was facing protests for its sexist exclusion prior to its upcoming U.S. tour.