Mariss Jansons - what's the real scandal ?

"Women on the podium are not my cup of tea" said Mariss Jansons, and the media exploded in indignation.  Of course sexism is wrong. But should we rush to judgement and launch lynch mobs ?   My first reaction : check the facts.  Classic FM fans flames for fun, which might be why many serious music people have no time for Classic FM. 

The original interview was in the Telegraph, written to mark the Royal Philharmonic Society awarding the conductor its Gold Medal in recognition of 40 years in music. The article is utterly straightforward and wide ranging until the penultimate paragraph of a total of 14, in which Jansons is asked about "the biggest change in conducting, the rise of women conductors".  Firstly that's not the "biggest change". Secondly this is what Jansons actually said: "Hmm, well…” Jansons pulls an embarrassed face, knowing he’s about to say something deeply politically incorrect. “Well, I don’t want to give offence, and I am not against it, that would be very wrong. I understand the world has changed, and there is now no profession that can be confined to this or that gender. It’s a question of what one is used to. I grew up in a different world, and for me seeing a woman on the podium… well, let’s just say it’s not my cup of tea.”  (link here but it's behind a paywall)

Jansons is unwise but evil he is not.  There are thousands of more devious and manipulative men in this world who are infinitely worse. In the grand scheme of things, poverty, exploitation and denial of basic human rights destroy  the position of women in society.   The weaker the men, the more it seems they need to put others down to get ahead. Sexism isn't smart : it's the language of losers with too much to hide.

Jansons has now issued a statement via his orchestra  apologizing for the "undiplomatic, unnecessary and counterproductive for me to point out that I’m not yet accustomed to seeing women on the conducting platform. Every one of my female colleagues and every young woman wishing to become a conductor can be assured of my support, for we all work in pursuit of a common goal: to excite people for the art form we love so dearly – music.”  Full link HERE. 

Whatever the reasons for his original comments, what matters is what he does, not what he says.  Much more shame sticks to those who'd exploit the situation for publicity and profit.  Most women  are busy enough, and good enough, not  to need that.  It's not gender that makes a good conductor, it's talent.

And prejudice happens all the time. In every walk of life a women has to be extremely good to get recognized at all. And the better and more talented a woman is, the more jealousy and resentment. Same applies to men, too.  The universal troll syndrome where anyone good has to be put down because "we don't like experts".   Unfortunately, Jansons’ comments appeal to the sort of men who resent change : the tip of a huge and toxic garbage heap.   Tackle that underlying sexism,  and no-one will be a  "a cup of tea".  It's not easy, so don't get sidelined. At least Jansons is musician enough to recognize excellence when he hears it.  He's not entirely wrong, either, about pushing young conductors too fast too soon.  There are some who are "marketing product", but many are genuine naturals whose flair and energy should be encouraged.   Everyone on their own merits. 

Wigmore Hall Sunday Muriel Herbert songs

An opportunity to hear a very unusual programme this Sunday at the Wigmore Hall. The Royal Academy of Music Song Circle presents the songs of Muriel Herbert (1897-1983),  a composer of promise whose career was restricted by the circumstances of her life and times.  Tickets are still available, HERE.

Although Herbert was born into  a large, musical family, her father died when she was 12, leaving the family in poverty. Her mother fell into depression. Yet Muriel started writing music in her teens and was ambitious enough to get accepted into the Royal College of Music in 1917, then in the grip of Charles Villiers Stanford, a man not given to innovation or to female emancipation. In front of all the other students, Stanford made he play, from sight, a Beethoven piano concerto arranged for two pianos. These days that would be deemed intimidation. Luckily, Herbert knew the arrangement well. Then, as now, talent alone isn't enough : women have to be extra capable simply to be able to be allowed into consideration. After her brief, unhappy marriage ended, Herbert returned to England from France, but not to London and spent the rest of her life in relative obscurity.  Fortunately her daughter, the biographer Claire Tomalin, preserved her manuscripts. In 2008, Herbert's songs were recorded by James Gilchrist, Ailish Tynan and David Owen Norris. This is the CD to get, from which I've taken the biographical information.

The Academy Song Circle (Nika Gorič, Katie Stevenson, Nicholas Mogg, Michael Mofidian, Yi-shing Cheng and Michael Pandya) are performing a selection of Herbert's songs including the lovely How Beautiful is the Night (1918) to a poem by Southey. and the  set of Children's Songs which Herbert wrote in 1938, when her own children were young.   Playful songs, setting a popular contemporary poem : songs about tadpoles, Jack Spratt, gypsies. Escapism, or the multitasking of a mother who wanted to write music but had to earn a living and raise children on her own. Or memories?  While Herbert's mother was giving birth to her, the doctor played Schubert,  Brahms and Schumann on the piano in the parlour.  Herbert set modern poets as well as old , like Robert Bridges When Death to either shall come, (1923) which has an early 20's feel.  

The Academy Song Circle perform Herbert's songs in context.  One of her most beautiful songs  Renouncement,, a setting of a Victorian poet,  was written after Herbert fell in love with Roger Quilter, not realizing that he was gay.  How she must have idolized father figures!  The wistfulness in this song masks genuine, personal anguish.  Herbert met James Joyce in her youth, and set one of his poems too, which isn't on this programme. Quilter's own songs are heard somewhat to Herbert's disadvantage as they are major works, like Love's Philosophy and Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal.  Several of Charles Villiers Stanfird's songs are also on this programme, showing that Herbert wasn't dominated by him. He had status, money and power. She didn't. But she did her own thing as best as she was able. 

Is the BBC serious about women conductors ? Xian Zhang BBC NOW

Is the BBC serious about women conductors? Xian Zhang has just been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

 Gender should not be an issue at all, since no-one conducts with their anatomy,. As long as the person conducting does the job well, all else is irrelevant.

No-one good, anyway, would fall back on gender to get ahead. Xian Zhang is good and, to her credit, stayed out of the silly media circus surrounding women conductors. Ultimately that circus is a hypocritical scam. Understanding what makes a conductor good involves a bit of musical nous and taste.  So it's much easier for the media to fall back on gender  stereotypes. Ultimately that harms the cause.  This media circus creates tokenism, which ultimately harms the cause of women in the industry. There are good women conductors around  who don't deserve to be ignored because they aren't media darlings. In any case  conducting means not a thing to millions of ordinary women all over the world who suffer poverty, abuse, and hardship every day of their lives. The media focus on women conductors is a white middle class male-oriented construct, which ignores wider issues. It's shameful that some women are drawn into a debate which is actually anti-women.

Xian Zhang has built a solid career throughout Europe, and is Chief Conductor at the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (Laverdi). Despite its name and home town, it's not, strictly speaking, an opera orchestra. Founded in 1993, its repertoire is broad and wide ranging. She's been working with BBC NOW for several years: they're an orchestra which has improved considerably since the appointment of Thomas Søndergård. She's been a part of this revitalization, which is why she's got the job.

Is the BBC really serious about women conductors though ?  Getting Marin Alsop to conduct the Last Night of the Proms the first time was a good idea, helped a lot  by Joyce DiDonato's visionary commitment. But to do the same thing a second time ?  Like a stale joke, it falls flat on repeat. There are good women conductors around who could do the job with style - Susanna Mälkki, for example - but they're not going to get the chance while BBC management thinks in media clichés. Thank goodness that BBC NOW can recognize quality when they hear it.