http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/arts/music/roll-over-mahler-us-orchestras-are-shrinking.html 2014-11-23 00:44:19 Roll Over, Mahler: U.S. Orchestras Are Shrinking The current cost-cutting trend in American orchestras often means management seeks to fill slots with freelancers rather than full-timers. === Composers have long dreamed of bigger orchestras. In Mozart’s day, when orchestras were small by modern standards, he But as some American orchestras struggle in the post-downturn economy, they are taking a page from the corporate world and thinking smaller: They are downsizing, shedding some full-time positions while making up the difference with less costly part-time musicians. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra ended a contentious labor dispute and a two-month lockout this month by Such reductions do not mean that they must become chamber orchestras, or even play their fortissimos with less issimo. But they do require a greater reliance on freelance musicians to play large-scale works by, say, a Bruckner or a Mahler or a Richard Strauss. Some of the orchestras say that they can maintain quality by hiring talented musicians to sit in and note that even major, healthy ensembles use substitutes in the case of vacancies or absences. But musicians warn that an overreliance on freelancers endangers the things that make orchestras great: the cohesion that comes from playing together over many years, the performing traditions that are developed and passed down, even the ability to divine in a flash what a familiar conductor is seeking with a cocked eyebrow or a flick of the wrist. Michael Kurth, a bassist in the Atlanta Symphony, stirred debate in the music world with Some freelancers took exception. But Mr. Kurth, who stressed in an interview that he respected their talent, said that he had experienced the phenomenon from the other side when, while locked out of his regular job in Atlanta, he was hired as a substitute player with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington. “I was that player on the outside, struggling to fit in, and not always sure how to anticipate the conductor,” he said. For many years the story of orchestras was expansionary. Tim Carter, a professor of musicology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that during the 19th century, ensembles expanded dramatically. “There are three elements which are each feeding off of each other,” he said. “Larger performance spaces requiring larger orchestras, which encouraged composers to write music for larger orchestras — which required larger orchestras, which required larger concert spaces.” Orchestra size became a point of contention during the lockout in Atlanta, which ended when the orchestra’s management gave up its unusual quest to drop the requirement for a minimum number of players from the contract and players agreed to let vacancies go unfilled longer. The result is a smaller Atlanta Symphony, which had become known It is not alone. The “Our policy has been to hire substitute players as needed for the demands of the repertoire — and concert reviews have been pretty stellar this fall, so it doesn’t seem to be an issue that is noticeable to critics or audiences,” she said in an email. Some well-respected orchestras augment their full-time musicians with other players. The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, which is widely considered one of the best in the world, has an official complement of 99 players. But since the ensemble’s contract envisions four performances a week, and the Met performs seven, the orchestra bolsters its ranks with musicians who are not full-time orchestra members. Of course, being in a city with a large pool of top-notch freelancers helps. Robert J. Flanagan, an emeritus professor of economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business who wrote “The Perilous Life of Symphony Orchestras: Artistic Triumphs and Economic Challenges,” said the recent cuts were a reversal of the growth in the late 20th century, when many American orchestras began paying better and growing larger. “Now, basically, orchestras are trying to change labor from being quite as fixed a cost into a more variable cost,” he said. Bruce Ridge, the chairman of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians, a players’ conference of the American Federation of Musicians, said that such cuts were shortsighted. “Our belief is that no arts organization can cut itself to success, and that no business ever solved a financial problem by offering an inferior product,” he said. Some orchestras are bucking the trend. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s contract calls for a minimum of 82 players, but the ensemble has long had more than 90. Jonathan Martin, its president and chief executive, said that having a larger complement helped the orchestra to play late Romantic and contemporary repertoire, fostered artistic cohesion, helped attract talent and simply made it sound better in its hall. “Our consistent practice,” he said, “has been that we fill vacancies when they occur so that we maintain that strength.”