On Thursday my mom and I went to hear the Vienna Philharmonic. The music was lovely--so confident, so light, so controlled--and I don't even like Richard Strauss much (I have Baroque and Classical preferences).
But there was only ONE woman, a violinist. Two others came out for the last piece, but I believe they were with the State Opera--a step below the Philharmonic. The rest all looked like they belonged in leiderhosen, and their names confirmed it.
Being still under the sway of my conservative upbringing, I thought to myself, well, maybe the most virtuoso musicians ARE caucasian men, and maybe female musicians receive unfair preference in the States. But I asked my housemate when I got home, and she said that in the US auditions are done behind a screen so the sex, race, etc. cannot be discerned during judging. This is not so in Austria. Clearly, there is some bias going on if there are many more women in orchestras where auditions are anonymous.
And THAT is my rant for the day.
In other news, it is a beautiful day outside.
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1 comment:
It is beautiful here too. I love spring. The windows are open.
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