New York Philharmonic vs. Gilbert Kaplan: An Update

Several new developments in the throwdown between members of the New York Philharmonic and the supporters of conductor Gilbert Kaplan. Steve Smith, the critic who reviewed the original concert for the Times, published a lengthy mea culpa on his blog in which he admits to cutting a short phrase from his piece that described Kaplan as the co-editor of the critical edition of Mahler's Second, and therefore slightly undercutting Kaplan's authority on the piece.

Norman Lebrecht, who freely professes his admiration and friendship with Kaplan, takes the Philharmonic out behind the woodshed for another whipping:

The New York Philharmonic has come out of this seedy episode looking like a rabble without a cause. When its music director invites a man to conduct a concert for the benefit of the orchestra's pension fund, it is worse than just bad manners for the players to insult him to their heart's content. It is a symptom of exceedingly bad management, or an organisation that has run out of control. Somebody needs to get a grip, to state a position, to invoke a principle of collective responsibility.

It is no surprise that Riccardo Muti turned down the offer to become music director in favour of Chicago, that Simon Rattle won't go near the band with a bargepole and that the only person with enough insurance to succeed Lorin Maazel is the son of two members of the orchestra who think they can keep the hyenas from his door. What a shambles.