From Newsday, May 2004

Classical music has long been a realm hostile to women. Mainstream criticism has barely begun to assimilate the lessons of such works as Catherine Clément's "Opera, or the Undoing of Women," which explores "this spectacle thought up to adore, and also to kill, the feminine character," or Susan McClary's "Feminine Endings," which lays bare the gender bias that permeates the theory and jargon of musicology.

Let's not even get started on the Vienna Philharmonic, which only recently began admitting women, and whose business manager opined last year that "purely biologically," women sense music differently than men. Of the world's other great orchestras, few approach gender parity, and fewer still have women music directors.

Marin Alsop seems to be a one-woman antidote to the sexism that still holds sway in classical music. New York native Alsop, former music director of the Long Island Philharmonic and the Eugene (Ore.) Orchestra, is a major star in England, where she is principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. She is also music director laureate of the Colorado Symphony, and since 1991 she has been music director of the Cabrillo Festival in Santa Cruz, Calif. She returns to her hometown this week to lead the New York Philharmonic in its first performances of Leonard Bernstein's brash and great-hearted opera "Candide."

Bournemouth managing director Michael Henson bristles at the notion that Alsop's gender played any role in her hiring or raised any eyebrows. "We made the appointment because Marin was the best person for the job, and our audiences have responded in precisely the same way." At Gramophone magazine, which named Alsop its 2003 Artist of the Year, editor James Jolly maintains that Alsop and her associates are "bored with the gender issue."

In a statement on her Web site, www.marinalsop.com, Alsop attributes some of her success "to the fact that I never interpreted any rejections as gender-based, even if I could have done so. This enabled me to use each rejection as an opportunity to improve myself by working harder and developing more perseverance." She concludes that "accepting the role of powerless victim can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and I am unwilling to even entertain that concept."

At ease with herself
Given the strength of character those words convey, it is not surprising that, in person, Alsop comes off as frank and serene, utterly at ease with herself. Trim and elegant in black jeans and a tailored jacket, the 47-year-old conductor rolls a bottle of diet cola between her palms, her only concession to jet lag. She swerves in conversation from the "refreshing" lack of political correctness in Europe to the covert but "definite inequality" that still characterizes American society.

"It's almost the kiss of death if you discuss this issue. You're called"—her eyes widen in mock horror—"a feminist." She dissects the facts dispassionately. "Women are paid 25 percent less on average than men, and I don't think that it doesn't bother women; I think they've just been intimidated into not speaking about it. I don't need to be the mouthpiece for everyone, but I do feel an obligation to the next generation of women to at least stand up for what should be fair and equitable."

Alsop's interest in fostering the next generation of musicians and listeners is another important thread in the tapestry of her career. She lets out a throaty laugh when reminded of her crushing number of commitments: "It's one of those 'be careful what you wish for' kind of situations!" Somehow, though, she makes time to reach out to newcomers wherever she works. She speaks with relish of the workshops for young conductors she has established at Cabrillo: "I think, 'What would have helped me?' So we videotape everything for them, so they can take it home, think about it, even use it as an audition tape if they want."

Breaking down snobbery
At Bournemouth, Alsop often addresses sellout crowds from the podium, introducing unfamiliar works with musical illustrations. She also has commissioned some unusual encores—for example, a George Bogatko arrangement of "Sweet Georgia Brown" to follow a Rachmaninoff/Shostakovich program—to "break down perceptions [of snobbery] and create a light-hearted atmosphere," according to Henson.

Alsop recalls with special pride the "terrific" educational concerts she undertook with the Long Island Philharmonic, which she led for seven years beginning in 1989. Violinist Colin Jacobsen, now a member of cellist Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, played under Alsop with the L.I. Philharmonic as a preteen. "What I remember is how Marin immediately put me at ease: that she was willing to trust my ideas even though I wasn't very experienced. Years later, that trust extended to letting me learn to drive manual transmission in her car!"

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who has been a guest soloist all over the world with Alsop, echoes that professional and personal regard. "There are many great conductors, people that I admire and enjoy playing with, but very few that I would call friends. With Marin, though, I could call her up for anything, and I know she'd be there for me."

Alsop's passion, generosity and disregard of barriers bring to mind Bernstein, with whom she studied at Tanglewood, and they promise to serve her well in "Candide" (on WNYC/93.9 FM at 8 p.m. Friday). She giggles at the idea advanced by some British critics that her being American might account for the distinctive pulse and vitality of her conducting, as in her recent Naxos disc of Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" and suites from "On the Town" and "On the Waterfront." "I know a lot of Americans with very poor rhythm," she says.

Like Bernstein, though, Alsop has a deep familiarity with American popular music. She expects to tour Europe next year with the swing ensemble String Fever, which she founded in 1981, and feels that playing jazz "has been tremendous for my conducting." Both her parents played in the New York City Ballet orchestra, and Alsop recalls being struck by choreographer George Balanchine's "rhythmic drive and focus on the idea that the music had to lead the dance."

Bernstein as mentor
She speaks with awe of her mentor Bernstein, recalling the "love and vitality" he exuded even during his final illness. Alsop reflects on the enduring relevance of "Candide," a story of "optimism maintained in the face of the worst possible situations": the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 that inspired the Voltaire novella on which the opera is based; the United States' anti-Communist fanaticism of the 1950s, when Bernstein wrote his music drama; and "the new horrors previously unimaginable that every decade brings to us."

Alsop contrasts "Candide" with Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd," having played violin in the pit orchestra during its original Broadway run starting in 1979. She took the job thinking it was a love story and was shocked to learn it was about cannibalism. "For me, works of art that have no hope—I can appreciate them, but…" Unlike Sondheim, Bernstein "always came back to the conclusion that the goodness of humanity would win out. It's a simple idea, but it's almost the only one we have."

She finds the "Candide" cast "pretty brilliant," especially because "it's neither fish nor fowl." Broadway luminaries Kristin Chenoweth ("Wicked") and Patti LuPone commingle with Paul Groves and Sir Thomas Allen from the opera world. "These people all love each other, but they hadn't worked together before.

"It will be something new," Alsop says with a broad, satisfied smile, clearly relishing the prospect of breaking down more musical barriers.