I found this from a blog. I believe that blog is Catholic.  Lets have a spirited discussion on the merits of women in Classical music.


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The Vienna Philharmonic
 

 http://www.thinkinghousewife.com/wp/2012/01/the-vienna-philharmonic/

ALMOST FIFTEEN years ago, feminists in California and New York picketed the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the world’s premier orchestras, for its refusal to hire women musicians. The protests were influential and the orchestra decided to hire its first full-time female member at that time. The protests did not, however, lead to the rapid change that has occurred in many of the great orchestras. The Vienna Philharmonic remains remarkably and refreshingly traditional, stubbornly resistant to both feminism and multiculturalism despite concessions to both.

See this shocking group photo which depicts a nearly all-male, all-white ensemble.  Though it appointed its first female concertmaster last year, the Philharmonic still has only six full-time female members. Its concerts are reminiscent of a relatively recent era, when you would not see a heavily pregnant concertmaster, as I did at a recent performance of an American orchestra, or women in the front row playing violin in pants, their legs spread-eagled before the audience, or a significant Asian presence. It is difficult to imagine Marin Alsop, the openly lesbian conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, conducting for this venerated institution in her scarlet-accented high heels.

During its 160-year history, the Wiener Philharmoniker, with its characteristic sound, has been led by many of the greatest conductors and praised by famous composers such as Wagner, Bruckner, Brahms, Mahler (who conducted it from 1898 to 1901)  and Richard Strauss. The waiting period for weekend ticket subscriptions is 13 years. At this time of year, the orchestra’s New Year’s Day concert, which features Strauss waltzes and ends with a rousing version of The Radetzky March under the chandeliers of the Musikverein, is especially popular and is broadcast on PBS in this country. (See yesterday’s performance of the Radetzky March, conducted by Mariss Jansons, here.) The orchestra has held a concert each New Year’s Day since 1941.

Members of the orchestra have openly stated in the recent past that the ideal member is a Central European man. They have even gone so far as to state that the famous Viennese Sound can only be achieved by musicians who possess the appropriate cultural “soul.”

The Philharmonic did not allow women to become full members until 1997. Between 1997 and 2010, a period during which many other orchestras became heavily female, it hired only three women. Paul Fürst, a violist, once stated in a docuмentary on women 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. [Wikipedia]

The American-born musician William Osborne led an internet campaign against the orchestra in the 90s, accusing it of “deep-seated brutality” for its exclusion of non-Europeans. Players unapologetically defended its exclusivity over the years. Dieter Flury, a solo-flutist in the Philharmonic, stated in 1996:

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.[Wikipedia]

Otto Strasser, the former chairman of the Philharmonic, wrote in 1970:

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. [Wikipedia]

In 2001, a musician who was half Asian became a member, a major break with the past. The orchestra is democratically administered, with major decisions made by a majority of players. Thus no single person or director can be blamed for its resistance, which may be why it has held fast, relatively speaking, against major change.

 

Anyone who is out of touch with the music shouldn't be performing it publically under the pretense of giving a serious musical performance representative of the composer.

For example, can a pimpled teenager "egg" (i.e., "wannabe" Asian - white on outside, yellow on inside) technically master the physical actions of playing the guqin (Chinese zither)? He can, but is his performance of Bo Ya's immortal classic "" on the same level as that of a Chinese master who has spent years immersed in his native culture? Theoretically he could, but would as a listener I would prefer a performance given by a man who has the cultural soul behind the piece. Maybe that's just an unwarranted bias though. There's just something that doesn't really make sense about a Mexican singing Cantonese opera or playing the erhu (2-string fiddle).

It's a bit like poetry. Music & poetry belong to everyone, but not everyone understands it on the same level and therefore not everyone can enjoy or present it on the same level.

I'm not sure if this applies as much to Western classical music, especially since Baroque and Classical music are so universal in appeal. Masaaki Suzuki's recordings of the St. Matthew and St. John Passion are vastly superior to anything that Karl Richter produced (granted, Richter lived before the renaissance of period performance), yet Richter should have had the "cultural soul" that Suzuki theoretically lacks.

As for women & music...A lot of them may seem feminist (and probably are), but a lot of them probably genuinely love good music and like to share it with other people.

That "woman should play like a woman" is very true. Which is why not everything is suited to being performed by women. Which is why in the past women played the harpsichord and later the piano to occupy themselves before marriage.