A01=Mary Sue Welsh
American harpists
and Eugene Ormandy
Arturo Toscanini
Author_Mary Sue Welsh
behind the scenes
biography
Carlos Salzedo
Category=AVLA
Category=AVN
Category=AVRL
Category=DNBF
Category=JBSF1
classical music
classical music studies
classical musician
Curtis Institute of Music
Edna Phillips
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eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_music
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Fantasia
female harpists
first woman principal
first woman principal chair
Fritz Reiner
Greta Garbo
harpist
Leopold Stokowski
modern orchestra
music for Fantasia
music performance
orchestra
Otto Klemperer
Philadelphia
Philadelphia cultural history
Philadelphia Orchestra
pioneering women
pioneering women musicians
recording for Fantasia
sexism in classical music
sexism in music
Sir Thomas Beecham
soundtrack of Fantasia
twentieth century classical music
twentieth century women classical music
twentieth century women classical musician
Walt Disney
women harpists
women in classical music
women in music
women in orchestras
women in the Philadelphia Orchestra
Product details
- ISBN 9780252037368
- Weight: 626g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 23 Jan 2013
- Publisher: University of Illinois Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Gifted harpist Edna Phillips (1907–2003) joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1930, becoming not only that ensemble's first female member but also the first woman to hold a principal position in a major American orchestra. Plucked from the Curtis Institute of Music in the midst of her studies, Phillips was only twenty-three years old when Leopold Stokowski, one of the twentieth century's most innovative and controversial conductors, named her principal harpist. This candid, colorful account traces Phillips's journey through the competitive realm of Philadelphia's virtuoso players, where she survived--and thrived--thanks to her undeniable talent, determination, and lively humor. Drawing on extensive interviews with Phillips, her family, and colleagues as well as archival sources, One Woman in a Hundred chronicles the training, aspirations, setbacks, and successes of this pioneering woman musician. Mary Sue Welsh recounts numerous insider stories of rehearsal and performance with Stokowski and other renowned conductors of the period such as Arturo Toscanini, Fritz Reiner, Otto Klemperer, Sir Thomas Beecham, and Eugene Ormandy. She also depicts Phillips's interactions with fellow performers, the orchestra management, and her teacher, the wily and brilliant Carlos Salzedo. Blessed with a nimble wit, Phillips navigated a plethora of challenges, ranging from false conductors' cues to the advances of the debonair Stokowski and others. She remained with the orchestra through some of its most exciting years from 1930 to 1946 and was instrumental in fostering harp performance, commissioning many significant contributions to the literature. This portrait of Phillips's exceptional tenure with the Philadelphia Orchestra also reveals the behind-the-scenes life of a famous orchestra during a period in which Rachmaninoff declared it "the finest orchestra the world has ever heard." Through Phillips's perceptive eyes, readers will watch as Stokowski melds his musicians into a marvelously flexible ensemble; world-class performers reach great heights and make embarrassing flubs; Greta Garbo comes to Philadelphia to observe her lover Leopold Stokowski at work; and the orchestra encounters the novel experience of recording for Walt Disney's Fantasia. A colorful glimpse into a world-class orchestra at the height of its glory, One Woman in a Hundred tells the fascinating story of one woman brave enough and strong enough to overcome historic barriers and pursue her dreams.
Mary Sue Welsh is a former executive director of the Bach Festival of Philadelphia, where she worked with its chair Edna Phillips. She lives in Philadelphia.
