Director sues own orchestra to death

It was big news. One orchestra confiscates the instruments of another. Only it doesn't add up. Just as much does not appear to be right in conductor Jan Willem de Vriend's letter in last Thursday's Volkskrant.

Because we have the orchestral feud between the Netherlands Philharmonic and the Netherlands Symphonic have been following closely for some time, we already knew De Vriend with his statement, That legally it now stood 2-2 between the two orchestras, was not telling the truth. Indeed, it is 3-1 for the Philharmonic.

And to stay in sports metaphors, the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra mainly scores its own goals by going to court itself time and again and getting zero in return.

[Tweet "Orchestra from Enschede scored three goals already - in own goal"].

At least that is what the official response  From the director of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. When we take a closer look at the published rulings turns out to be the same. Amicable notes turn out to be emphatic pledges, the former directors of both orchestras also confirmed in the witness examination. So the letter De Vriend wrote on Thursday now comes across as a desperate attempt to play on public opinion.

Speaking to news agency Novum on Friday, Rob Steevelaar, director of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, said: "My first thought was that De Vriend had not written the letter himself. For example, the cases he mentions, the enforcement dispute and the proceedings on the merits, were not brought by NedPho but precisely by NedSym, and there is no mention of attachments."

Meanwhile, the director of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Harm Mannak, is silent in all languages. Who does respond is Martijn Albers, the orchestra's spokesman. He also speaks on behalf of the musicians who are starting to feel increasingly uncomfortable. Incidentally, the spokesperson does not respond substantively, but plays full on the man. "Rob is always surprised. He is starting to become a hypocritical liar and hides behind his lawyers." Albers concludes with the equally unsubstantial appeal "Don't whine and just keep on making music."

Another day later, Jan Willem de Vriend makes himself heard again, this time through an interview in regional newspaper TC Tubantia. What do we read? Summary: De Vriend was still holding back when he wrote his letter to the Volkskrant and jealousy is the cause of the conflict, according to De Vriend. Because in Enschede, everything is going crescendo.

[Tweet "All jealousy!" says the conductor. Because in Enschede everything goes crescendo."]

"It's doing better than ever. But it seems like the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra is jealous of that. That we shouldn't think we represent anything in the province. Arrogant. They belittle us. What are they thinking? We are just doing very well, while the circumstances are horrendous with these cuts. The fact that the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra is not doing well is really not because our name would resemble theirs."

What follows is the familiar argument that in England, Germany and Austria, too, various orchestras have names that are similar, and, crucially, "It's not in the name, it's in what you do." In this case, then, it is bizarre that Jan Willem de Vriend's orchestra, in particular, feels so incredibly strongly about the new name. After all, its own policy plan states that the name is crucial to  to become the second orchestra in the Netherlands as soon as possible.

[Tweet "Appealing and approachable (artistic) leadership is prerequisite for success"]

By the way, who might have wondered why that real director, serial cultural entrepreneur Harm Mannak, keeping his mouth shut, can also be found in the policy plan. It literally says: "Appealing and approachable (artistic) leadership is a prerequisite for success". So it is logical that the conductor should speak up when it comes to artistic content. But why exactly is this quote in the financial paragraph?

We remain curious.