Vienna Philharmonic - Controversies

Controversies

Although the orchestra is widely acknowledged as one of the world's finest, it has been criticized by feminist groups because until 1997 it did not allow women to become full members of the orchestra (although some women performed with the orchestra, they were not full members). The former traditional attitude of the orchestra was expressed by Paul Fürst in the 1987 documentary A Woman Is a Risky Bet: Six Orchestra Conductors:

"There is no ban on women musicians playing here but the Vienna Philharmonic is by tradition an all-male orchestra. Our profession makes family life extremely difficult, so for a woman it’s almost impossible. There are so many orchestras with women members so why shouldn’t there be – for how long I don’t know – an orchestra with no women in it … A woman shouldn’t play like a man but like a woman, but an all-male orchestra is bound to have a special tone."

In 1997 the first woman, harpist Anna Lelkes, became a member after having performed with the orchestra as a "non-member" for over twenty years. After Lelkes' retirement, another woman harpist Charlotte Balzereit eventually replaced her as the orchestra's only female member at the time. Currently, the orchestra has six female members: Ursula Plaichinger (viola), the first non-harpist female member, Isabelle Ballot Caillieret (first violin), Daniela Ivanova (viola), Albena Danailova (concertmistress), and Olesya Kurylyak (first violin), and Balzereit. One other woman, Ursula Wex (cello), is a confirmed member of the Vienna State Opera orchestra, but does "not yet belong to the association of the Vienna Philharmonic." On May 8, 2008, Danailova won an audition for concertmaster and began serving in that position since September of that year – the first woman ever to become concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. The first woman to conduct the orchestra was Australian conductor Simone Young in January 2005.

The orchestra has come under criticism by the Green Party of Austria as recently as 2010 for only hiring three women during a 13-year period where about 40 musicians have been replaced.

In addition there have been claims that the orchestra does not accept members who are visibly members of ethnic minorities. In 1970 Otto Strasser, the former chairman of the Vienna Philharmonic, wrote in his memoirs:

"I hold it incorrect that today the applicants play behind a screen; an arrangement that was brought in after the Second World War in order to assure objective judgments. I continuously fought against it, especially after I became Chairman of the Philharmonic, because I am convinced that to the artist also belongs the person, that one must not only hear, but also see, in order to judge him in his entire personality. Even a grotesque situation that played itself out after my retirement was not able to change the situation. An applicant qualified himself as the best, and as the screen was raised, there stood a Japanese before the stunned jury. He was, however, not engaged, because his face did not fit with the 'Pizzicato-Polka' of the New Year's Concert."

In 1996, Dieter Flury, a solo-flutist in the Vienna Philharmonic, said:

"From the beginning we have spoken of the special Viennese qualities, of the way music is made here. The way we make music here is not only a technical ability, but also something that has a lot to do with the soul. The soul does not let itself be separated from the cultural roots that we have here in central Europe. And it also doesn't allow itself to be separated from gender. So if one thinks that the world should function by quota regulations, then it is naturally irritating that we are a group of white skinned male musicians, that perform exclusively the music of white skinned male composers. It is a racist and sexist irritation. I believe one must put it that way. If one establishes superficial egalitarianism, one will lose something very significant. Therefore, I am convinced that it is worthwhile to accept this racist and sexist irritation, because something produced by a superficial understanding of human rights would not have the same standards."

In 2001 a violinist who was half-Asian became a member.

The full list of musicians, men and women, including those playing with the Vienna Philharmonic but are not members of the VPo association, is accessible on the website of the Vienna Philharmonic.