New York Philharmonic Musicians Not Impressed by Gilbert Kaplan

A few weeks ago, on December 8, the New York Philharmonic performed under the baton of Gilbert Kaplan for the first time. Given the reaction from some of the orchestra's musicians, it will probably be the last time as well.

An article by Dan Wakin in yesterday's New York Times reports that a number of the Philharmonic's players were extremely unhappy with the conducting of Kaplan, an amateur with only one piece in his repertoire: Mahler's Second Symphony (Resurrection). They ran crying to Zarin Mehta, the orchestra's president, and one player, trombonist David Finlayson, published a stinging indictment on his personal blog in which he calls Kaplan a "woefully sad farce."

The episode has raised some eyebrows among prominent classical music bloggers. The always opinionated Norman Lebrecht takes Finlayson and the Times to task for, among other things, airing dirty laundry that should have remained behind closed doors. Opera Chic agrees, questioning the professionalism such behavior. Both also wonder, as I do, why the Times devoted so much real estate to musicians complaining about their conductor. That's not news. It would be news if musicians didn't complain about their conductors. 

The real question here is why the Philharmonic doesn't have more control over it's players. I don't think they want to make a habit out of their musicians spouting off every time a new conductor rolls into Avery Fisher, especially one who doesn't measure up to their lofty standards, whatever they may be. In almost any other profession, an employee publicly excoriating his boss in such a manner would surely lead to dismissal. I know the relationship between orchestra and conductor is complex--only a cursory look back at the 20th century will prove that--and must include a great amount of collegial and collaborative spirit. But at the end of the day, orchestra musicians are employed to realize the artistic goals of the conductor. 

When players engage in this sort of behavior, though, I'm not sure anyone comes out for the better--the players look ill-tempered and difficult, waiting for a conductor to foul up so they can scold him on the Internet; the administration looks foolish for hiring someone the musicians don't approve of; and the conductor looks incompetent, whether he actually is or not. Kaplan doesn't have a career's backlog of performances, score study, and training, but it's not a reach to say that he knows Mahler 2 about as well as anyone in the world. I'm not sure if Finlayson and others are right. Maybe the guy is a hack, but he was good enough for the London Symphony and Vienna Philharmonic--both of which Gramophone magazine recently rated as superior orchestras to the NY Phil--so I'm betting he was good enough for the New York Philharmonic as well.

(For the record, I've never heard either of Kaplan's recordings or seen him in person. But he has received a number of positive reviews, including the Times review of this very concert.)