A labor dispute surrounding Spain's Orquesta Nacional erupted into an
angry exchange between audience and musicians in Madrid on 14 April, according
to reports in the Madrid newspapers El Mundo and El País.
The musicians of the orchestra, angry about the labor system that governs them, have begun a "work-to-rules" strike, refusing to attend extra rehearsals beyond those called for in their contract. Because of the lack of rehearsal, the orchestra was not prepared to play Mahler's Ninth Symphony as originally planned; conductor Eliahu Inbal selected a substitute program of the Khachaturian Violin Concerto and Mahler's First Symphony.
When the change of program was announced, concertgoers began to shout at the musicians, calling them lazy and accusing them of behaving like "bureaucrats." The disturbance lasted about 10 minutes. Cellist Salvador Scrig, a spokesman for the musicians, responded to the audience, explaining the musicians' position. The performance then went on, ending with a lengthy ovation.
The incident was the culmination of years of tension between the orchestra and the Spanish government. According to El Mundo, the musicians are angry that, since 1984, 39 of the 122 positions in the government-funded orchestra have been filled with lower-paid temporary employees rather than tenured players with civil service job protection. They also complain that they have been excluded from discussion of recent government proposals to reform the orchestra and that the orchestra has no music director.
The orchestra's music director emeritus, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, has spoken out on behalf of the musicians, saying that the current system creates two classes of musicians and requires an urgent solution. Frühbeck de Burgos is scheduled to conduct the orchestra on Friday 19 April. He told El Mundo that he "hopes not to change the program."
— Michael Markowitz and Ben Mattison
"La Orquesta
Nacional, en huelga de celo hasta que solucionen sus problemas de
plantilla"
Natalia Lago - El Mundo [Madrid] - 16 April 2002
"El
público del Auditorio abronca a la Orquesta Nacional"
Jesús Ruiz Mantilla
- El País [Madrid] - 15 April 2002
"Cultura
prepara un decreto para liquidar el régimen funcionarial de los músicos de la
ONE"
Jesús Ruiz Mantilla - El País [Madrid] - 16 April 2002
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