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Preface anD AcknOwleDgments “Today girls’ eyes glaze over when they hear about my being the first woman in the Philadelphia Orchestra, but they wouldn’t be so blasé if they knew what it was really like,” Edna Phillips said with a wry laugh in 1990, when she asked me to work with her on the writing of her memoir. By that time, I had known Edna for ten years, first in my role as executive director of the Basically Bach Festival of Philadelphia (now known as the Bach Festival of Philadelphia), where she chaired the board of directors, and then as a friend. Long fascinated by the vivid stories Edna told of her tenure in the orchestra, I happily agreed to help her with the project, not realizing how long-term my commitment would become. As we settled into a routine of weekly interviews that lasted over a year, I soon discovered that Edna didn’t intend to confine her memoir to her experience as a female pioneer in an exclusively male world. Yes, she wanted to talk about the obstacles she faced and explain the strategies she developed to overcome them, but she also had another story she wanted to tell—that of the Philadelphia Orchestra she knew as a member from 1930 to 1946 and the conductor she credited with making it so extraordinary, Leopold Stokowski. “I was born in 1907,” she told me, “and when I was young, everybody talked about the great opera singers. The tenors and sopranos of the Met were the reigning deities of the day.” But as the twentieth century advanced into its teens and beyond, she explained, that began to change, and the major U.S. orchestras rose to worldwide prominence under the leadership of a handful of extraordinary conductors. Then it was the conductors who began to attract widespread attention and adulation. Welsh_Text.indd 13 10/22/12 8:55 AM xiv 6 Preface and Acknowledgments “This is not a sentimental reminiscence,” she insisted. “These conductors were the builders of the orchestras they presided over. The great American orchestras grew in their images, and they became the new stars in the firmament.” Among the conductors Edna included in her pantheon of musical giants were Serge Koussevitzky and Arturo Toscanini for developing the Boston Symphony and the New York Philharmonic into the splendid modern orchestras each became under their respective leaderships. But, of course, the maestro Edna knew best, the one she watched and learned from for eleven years was Leopold Stokowski. Her regard for him was immense, just as it was among her colleagues. “There was something magical about his conducting and his command of the orchestra,” she said. She wanted her book to speak of the joy she felt at being part of the glorious music the orchestra made under Stokowski and to show what was so compelling and effective about his leadership. Of course, not every moment Edna remembered was joyous. As much as she honored the maestro, she wasn’t shy about pointing out instances when he tormented his players with his relentless, even ruthless, search for perfection, his impetuous demands, and his tendency to use his players as fodder for his humor. She often referred to the general tension the players felt in the highly charged atmosphere of a world-class orchestra that was expected to perform at the highest level at all times. She also wanted to acknowledge her colleagues, many of whom were extraordinary virtuosos, and convey a sense of what it was like to go forward with them as Eugene Ormandy, a fine conductor but of a different caliber than Stokowski, took over the reins of the orchestra. Holding her own in the Philadelphia Orchestra as its first woman and as a young player straight out of the conservatory presented huge challenges for Edna, but she was blessed with abundant musical talent and a quick wit, which helped her survive and thrive in the face of the complexities that confronted her. Fascinated by everything that surrounded her in the orchestra, she loved to talk about what she observed, frankly noting the triumphs of the musicians she worked with as well as their peccadilloes and near disasters. It was great fun to interview her. She also sent me out to interview former colleagues and recommended that I visit the Salzedo Harp Colony in Camden, Maine, to talk to her good friend Alice Chalifoux, a visit I thoroughly enjoyed. Then, sadly, before I finished writing the...

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