The Mozart concerto due to be played three times in May by the suspended principal oboist Liang Wang has been dropped from the concert, which is conducted by Jane Glover.
In its place, soprano Karen Slack sings the Beethoven aria, ah, perfido!
Liang Wang filed a lawsuit today against the…
Some hours after* principal oboe Liang Wang sued…
Message from the orchestra: It is with deep…
We are informed by the website of Lucerne’s…
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No complaints about Ah, perfido!, but the Mozart is a wonderful piece, which those who booked early had a right to expect.
Was no alternative oboist available?
Any oboist stepping in to play would look like they’re stabbing Wang in the back – whether it’s someone from the Philharmonic or a principal from another orchestra. And since the piece probably gets programmed no more than once a decade, if they do it now with someone besides Wang, it largely forecloses the option of rescheduling it for him should he survive this situation or of doing it with an eventual replacement, at least anytime soon.
your comment is so off the mark on so many levels I’m rather speechless, but the most ridiculous comment is the first one, “stabbing Wang in the back”, the Mozart oboe concerto belongs to no oboist and to every oboist, it is the concerto every oboist must have in her pocket for life for any audition on demand, for any performance on demand
Right, the concerto is not the property of any oboeist “She or He”…
My point is that no oboist is going to want to step into that situation. The concerto belongs to everyone but a principal player’s solo spot doesn’t.
I’m pretty sure if the Philharmonic reached out to a half-dozen prominent oboists to see if they would want to step in, they would all have declined.
If anyone deserves to be stabbed in the back it’s this pos.
Anyone filling in would feel like they’re stabbing *Cara Kiser* in the back.
kinda insulting to the associate principal oboe not to have offered the concerto to her
You clearly don’t know how an orchestra works. Why should the workload go to another colleague? Even if they pay her extra, playing as a soloist isn’t a walk in the park that you can do with some weeks notice. On top of the fact that it isn’t Sherry’s mess to fix in the first place.
Can you imagine if other jobs functioned with your logic?
“Insulting”, you are bias, and that makes you sound ignorant.
they may have, who knows?
I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some union rule preventing them from subbing in someone else when a musician is on paid leave.
Or they just don’t want to call attention to the fact that their principal oboists isn’t playing the soloist part.
His suspension is based on allegations of rape. That is very serious and the orchestra under these circumstances can do whatever they want as far as I am concerned with respect to replacement of an oboist for this concert.
But no one has taken away their right to expect it.
Well, that was just a matter of time. The substitution doesn’t sound all that inspired, but I guess it fits the theme of the program.
Good for Karen! A wonderful soprano!
The Beethoven concert aria was ALWAYS part of the scheduled program. Mozart Symphony #13 is replacing the Mozart Oboe Concerto.
Thanks. That makes much more sense. NL normally gets such details right.
Of course he does!
The substitution is Mozart’s Symphony #13 in fact.
Perfection! Jane is so brilliant.
The text is strangely telling (if a bit vague,) especially if this was not the substituted part of the program. English translation of the Italian:
Ah! Faithless one, perjured,
barbarous betrayer, do you leave?
And are these your last farewells?
Who ever suffered such cruel tyranny?
Go, wicked man! Go, run from me,
The wrath of the Gods you shall not escape!
If there is justice in Heaven, if there is mercy,
They will join together to punish you!
Pursuing shade, present wherever you go,
I shall see my vengeance;
I already enjoy it in my mind;
I see already lightning flashing about you.
Ah no, ah no, stop, Gods of vengeance!
Spare that heart, strike mine!
Though he has changed, I am what I was,
Through him I lived, I would die for him!
For pity, do not bid me farewell,
What shall I do without you?
You know, fair beloved,
I shall die troubled.
Ah, cruel one, you would that I die!
Have you no pity for me?
Why do you treat one who adores you
With such barbarous reward?
Tell me if in such trouble
Am I not worthy of pity?
I know you can’t judge a book by it’s cover but LW has always struck me as kind of sleazy looking…..
Why not have the second oboe do the concerto? It’s unlikely that Oboe #2… in the New York Philharmonic… is a slouch and somehow got through oboe school without learning that thing.
I don’t recall Sherry Sylar as having performed any solo works with the orchestra since the Mehta years for some odd reason…..
Can’t help thinking of Blair Tindall and how she might have chronicled this situation.
Because even when you’re an amazing oboe player, playing as a soloist requires special preparation physically, mentally and musically.
Musicians performing at this level need more than just a few weeks to plan their musical lives.
If I told you that Justin Bieber is all booked until 2027, you’d believe me.
But if I told you that any of the oboists needed more than just a couple weeks to play as a soloist, would you be shocked?
Wang and the other guy need to disappear. Their position with the orchestra is untenable; if they were to show up on stage they’d be jeered off of it. They’re hanging on by their fingernails because they’re unlikely to find another gig with a top rank orchestra, at least in the Western world, but there’s simply no way this ends with them carrying on as before, at least not without doing tremendous and possibly permanent damage to the NYPO’s reputation.
Is that fair? I don’t know, because I wasn’t there. But that’s the reality. I think the alleged victim’s decision to join a male colleague in their hotel room after drinks was stupid, but that neither justifies nor excuses sexual assault, which is probably the most damaging thing you can do to another person without maiming or killing them.
One of Gergiev’s Russian orchestras would hire both of them, just to spite us. And in China.
Sure thing. I hear Putin plans to appoint Prince Andrew as an advisor on youth affairs or something, just to spite you.
It’s devastating for them both. But they basically killed Cara Kizer’s career – at least with the Philharmonic – and their buddies closed ranks to obstruct efforts to hold Muckey accountable. What’s the appropriate sanction or remedy for that?
I’d also like to see consequences for whoever said “How dare she bring a complaint against a tenured member…?” but that’s probably too much to hope.
It was years ago and they were cleared by the police.
Declining to file charges is not the same as innocence. The DA likely didn’t think he would win if it went to trial; DAs don’t like to lose.
I am a dude that has been been alone with female colleagues during and after drinks on numerous occasions. Despite their poor choices, I managed to not rape them.
Tim wrote, “ Wang and the other guy need to disappear”.
Agreed. Maybe they should follow in the footsteps of Lydia Tár and look for work on the opposite side of the globe.
Just for clarity I was contracted and scheduled to sing on this concert for more than a year! I hate that my debut with NYP is attached to this situation that should have been handled a decade ago BUT that gives me more energy to shower the hall with love, light and sound! I’m inspired!
You’re ‘inspired’, huh. Sounds more like insipid. Keep your love and light BS to yourself, nobody is there for it, and any number of better singers could have been hired.
“Ugh” wrote “ You’re ‘inspired’, huh. Sounds more like insipid. Keep your love and light BS to yourself, nobody is there for it, and any number of better singers could have been hired.”
Dear Norman, I understand and appreciate your extreme reluctance to censor SD. But this vitriolic post should be removed and the poster should be banned.
I mean, I would’ve said no until the orchestra can ensure this doesn’t happen again, but you do you I guess.
Indeed, your name should not be tied to this awful situation in any way. Wishing you a most auspicious Philharmonic debut!
It has been rumored that there was another victim of Muckey who was a sub with the orchestra and now refuses to play with the ensemble. If she came forward, the orchestra could open a new investigation that would almost certainly be beneficial for the orchestra and NYC’s music world. If this person exists, and if she can, she should come forward.
How did you find out it was a sub?
Unfortunate! Wonderful wind concerto second only to the clarinet concerto. Why was the oboist suspended? Serious stuff!
Yesterday, Sammy Sussman, the author of the article that caused this scandal, posted that the NY Phil has hired an outside investigator to look for other examples of abuse by Philharmonic members. This could possibly include additional victims of the two musicians under discussion.
In general, it is worth noting that drug rapists seldom have just one victim.
Couldn’t they ask the oboe girl from “Mozart in the Jungle”?
She is in heaven now.
Two comments (one from the soloist herself) have pointed out that Ah perfido was on the program already, and is not a replacement for the oboe concerto. The replacement is Mozart Symphony 13. Why has the story not been corrected?