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For Violist, the Rules
Never Seemed to Change
By JAN HERMAN
Los Angeles Times, February 27, 1998
The saga of violist Gertrud Rossbacher and the Vienna Philharmonic
began Feb. 27, 1997—the very day the orchestra announced that it would no
longer exclude women.
Rossbacher, the second woman to break the male barrier at the
rival Berlin Philharmonic, had already decided it was time for a change. She
had played there for 10 years and was thinking of embarking on a solo career.
"By chance I saw an interview on television about the VPO's
decision," she recalled Wednesday in an interview from Wiesbaden, Germany,
where she'd just given a concert. "I couldn't believe it. I come from
Vienna. I have many friends in the[Vienna] Philharmonic."
Rossbacher had graduated with them in 1985 from Vienna's renowned
Academy of Music. About 20 got jobs in the orchestra, she said. Despite
graduating at the top of her class, she was not allowed to audition because of
its exclusionary policy against women.
"When I heard the announcement, I thought this would be my
chance to play with my hometown orchestra," she said. "I grew up with
the Viennese 'sound' from the age of 5. I studied with the best teachers."
Then she saw a Philharmonic ad in April for a solo violist not
older than 30. She was 35, but she applied anyway. "Nobody knew why the
age limit was 30. The working contract for musicians by Austrian law always
says the limit is 35, especially for a solo position."
A month later she received a letter back. "It was two
sentences: I don't have the qualifications for an invitation [to audition]. No
explanation." She wrote again, asking
if it was because of her age. "They wrote back, 'Yes, you are
too old.' " She appealed
to the newly installed Philharmonic chairman, Clemens Hellsberg,
who had said he favored admitting the best-qualified women.
"I wrote to him: 'How can you do this? Please tell the
orchestra what happened so I can form a lobby.' This is often done. When
someone is a good musician they often say, 'Let him play.' There's still a
chance."
She said she never heard from Hellsberg. Moreover, he did not let
the orchestra members know of her problem, she said. (Hellsberg could not be
reached for comment.) "There were only three people in the whole orchestra
who knew about my application," Rossbacher said.
Next she wrote to Ioen Hollander, head of the State Opera
Orchestra (in which all the Philharmonic members also play). Hollander had made
public statements pressuring the Philharmonic to change its policy.
"He wrote me back, 'We have our own rules,' " Rossbacher
said. "In public, he's
all for women. In private, he washed his hands of them."
* * *
Then Rossbacher went to the very top: Austrian Prime Minister
Victor Klima, also the Minister of Culture. "He wrote back and confirmed
that the Philharmonic has its own way to find the right persons for their jobs.
'But I am for women,' he wrote. 'I want women to come into the orchestra, but
in this case I cannot do anything.' " (Rossbacher provided The Times with
photocopies of their letters, confirming her account of their contents.)
At last she hired a lawyer to take her complaint to court.
"He was a very good lawyer," she said. "But in August, after a
few months of work, he quit. He said, 'I cannot do anything for you even though
the age limit is illegal. There's no chance in Vienna.' "
Who was hired as the new solo violist? Christian Frohn, a second
violinist from the State Opera Orchestra. He is 32.
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