David Runnion wrote in reply to Kevin Sutton:

>Again, you are a conductor. How many performances do you do a week, and
>with how many orchestras? Do you know all the names of your principal
>players? As an orchestral musician, let me tell you, I can't get so
>excited every week to always know the name of the conductor. Some stick
>with me, some don't. As for the names of the singers, often the
>orchestra is never introduced to them, they file in and out, some make
>an impression, some don't. To condemn an orchestral musician, who works
>like a dog day in and day out, and all too often is ignored at best and
>insulted at worst by overpaid conductors, for not being attentive to
>every conductor or soloist is, to me, in my humble O, lame and
>condescending.

I must admit I find this sort of message little more than a lame excuse to
tear one's clothes in public.  But I would like to address the words behind
the message.

I can appreciate that many orchestral players, faced with a gruelling
schedule of rehearsal and performance - plus the need to learn new parts -
can find the whole thing a little less than perfect.  And that many of
them come to think of making music as little more than a nine to five
(scrap that - ten to ten) job.  It is hard work.  And it is certainly less
glamorous than the work as a soloist or conductor.  Yet many musicians do
the job because they love it.  They enjoy making music.  And this alone
takes away the sour taste David's sorry story leaves in their mouths.

What they do not fall foul of, as David apparently does, is indifference.
I feel genuinely sorry for him.  The life he lives - or at least as he
describes it - sounds anything but satisfying.  That his dissatisfaction
should lead to a seeming inability to divorce the wonder of music from his
job making it is a tragedy.  It may be a small comfort, but I appreciate
everything orchestral players do.  I enjoy concerts and gain great pleasure
from the work I know goes into them.  From everybody.

If, David, the knowledge that you are, with your work, bringing so
much pleasure to people no longer outweighs the need for recognition,
then perhaps it is time to address the issue.  Not in a public forum by
attacking somebody who has made great personal sacrifices for music, but
rather in private.  For ultimately it is your life - and you must lead it
as you see fit.

Jonathan