The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra has been making some headlines the last few days.

On Saturday, the CBC News reported that the ensemble had backed out of the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics. According to conductor Bramwell Tovey, the organizing committee for the event—known as VANOC—demanded the music be prerecorded so that another conductor could mime the performance during the opening celebration.

Say what?! Yes, you read correctly. They wanted Tovey to record it, and then have an actor step in and pretend he was conducting at the actual ceremony.

I understand that the opening night tends to be, well, over-the-top. And perhaps having an actor at the podium would aid that. But did they really expect Tovey to forfeit his position during an internationally-televised broadcast? In a time when appreciation for the arts seems to be declining, this would be the ultimate swift kick below the belt for one of the country’s top orchestras.

Consider the performance at President Obama’s inauguration. Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman played faked John Williams’ “Air and Simply Gifts.” Yes, it was cold, and no one wanted to see Perlman’s Strad crack just so that he could play live. But there is no denying the buzz that followed. If Perlman and Ma attracted criticism from one such performance, the VSO would likely get far worse.

I feel that Perlman and Ma are two of the finest musicians in the world, and that they had all the right reasons to prerecord their performance. And though I don’t agree with it, the dubbed performance still received negative attention. So, Tovey had every right to stand firm.

Today, the Vancouver Sun reported that even though the VSO will not play at the opening ceremony, it has been invited to perform in the Cultural Olympiad—a concert that takes place during the games. In addition, VANOC has issued an apology to the orchestra for putting them “in an untenable position.”

Did he lose the battle? Perhaps. But kudos to Maestro Tovey for having the guts to stick up to VANOC. The VSO’s inclusion in the Cultural Olympiad shows that Tovey’s point was made, and that VANOC now bears the negative spotlight.

Links to the original stories, including text of VANOC’s press release, below.

Vancouver Symphony Says No to Olympic Opening, CBC News

Vanoc Apologizes to VSO for ‘Miming’ Maestro Incident

Posted on December 21st, 2009 at 10:45 pm | Filed under General |