Dumb s**t conductors say
Leonard Slatkin has been guilty of cluelessness in public again (a previous example can be found here). He’s actually quite reminiscent of a certain candidate for President currently out on the hustings; he goes along saying quite sensible stuff and then runs completely off the rails and reveals his true beliefs:
…Relations between the musicians and board are very good now. Everyone is working toward long range goals. I hate to say it, but it is possible that the strike actually produced a good result. Of course it would have been best to settle early but such was simply not the case.
There was much talk of not being able to attract first class talent here. That has been upended with the recent hires we have made. A fantastic concertmaster, amazing first flute, great Cor Anglais and the list goes on. Rather than shunning Detroit, we are now a destination, as musicians know that something good is happening here.
Does he realize just how much like an antebellum plantation owner he sounds? I won’t even try to create the analogous quotes for said plantation owner, as they would be profoundly offensive. But note here that Slatkin essentially claims that the musicians have forgotten just who put them out on the street without employment for the better part of a season and that the musicians’ claims that there would be an artistic cost paid for the board’s stance were totally bogus.
Fortunately for him, that level of cluelessness will also save him from having to notice any negative reaction on the part of the musicians of his orchestra.
And by the way: if you hate to say something that people will find offensive – don’t say it.
[…] adherence to the Music Directors’ Code of Omertá is the norm (although fortunately the public and enthusiastic support for institutional self-mutilation that Leonard Slatkin showed in Detroit is […]