Vienna Orchestra’s First Woman Is ‘Very, Very Glad’

Looking relaxed and confident after a transoceanic flight and a two-decade wait, Anna Lelkes landed in the United States on Sunday night for her debut as the first female member of the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

“Very, very glad. I am very glad,” said the Hungarian harpist as she strode out of Los Angeles International Airport straight into an all-male curbside crowd of colleagues, one clutching a bulbous bass case and others hoisting suitcases plastered with labels from cities around the world.

Although Lelkes, 57, has played with the orchestra for more than 20 years because of a critical shortage of male harpists, she was only voted in as a member Thursday. She will play second harp Wednesday night at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Richard Strauss’ “Hero Love” symphony, orchestra President Werner Resel said.

Resel fielded questions as Lelkes, dressed in blue jeans and a suede blazer, ran for the Orange Blossom Lines bus after a quick smile for a photographer.

Just nine days after he declared the all-white male Philharmonic should disband rather than admit women, Resel said he was “absolutely very happy” that Lelkes had been made a member.

“It is a small step for her, after so many years with us . . . but it is one of the most significant steps in the history of our organization,” he said. Resel said after the vote by a near-unanimous majority, which he joined, he congratulated Lelkes and told her “welcome.”

“She smiled,” Resel said. “She was really very happy. It was a dream for her whole life.”

The first time that Lelkes’ name even appeared on a concert program was in March 1995, for a performance at Carnegie Hall. She has been paid the same amount as other members of the private association, which is drawn from the state opera orchestra, “since the first day she played,” Resel said. The Philharmonic generates about $15 million annually in profits, netting each of its members $180,000 in addition to the civil servant salaries they receive as members of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, according to a Salzburg newspaper.

Resel said Lelkes was an integral part of the polished sound that has placed the Vienna Philharmonic at the top of the world’s great orchestras.

“The woodwinds and the strings are especially important to us, the smiling and warm sounds that are so especially Viennese,” he said.

Women’s groups who had rallied by Internet across international boundaries have vowed to demonstrate in front of the Costa Mesa concert hall and in front of Carnegie Hall shows next week, in spite of the admission of Lelkes and a promise to audition other women for open spots next summer.

“This is a step in the right direction,” said JoAnn Perlman of the south Orange County chapter of the National Organization for Women, last week. “But our peaceful demonstration will go forth as planned as a way to raise public consciousness of the issues. This includes the admission of minorities as well.”

Resel said, “We have absolutely no problem with this. We have nothing against the demonstrators.”

Asked why it had taken so long to admit one woman and agree to audition others, Resel said a recent change in Austrian government policy concerning maternity leaves made it possible. He said that previously, when a woman became pregnant, she was allowed a two-year leave and then could return to her job at will.

“When you are at home with the children, you cannot play as much, you cannot play as well,” he said. Now, he said, men as well as women will be able to take two-year leaves for family matters, and the orchestra will be allowed to audition for replacements “as soon as the woman is pregnant.”

Both men and women who take leaves of absence will need to re-audition for admission.

“Now, a man is like a woman, and a woman is like a man,” he said. “All the same.”

The concert in Orange County as well as the shows in New York are sold out.