P.S. to "Why did Claudio Abbado REALLY cancel?"
Nov 7th, 2007 by Paul Moor
From an unimpeachable, totally reliable source I have this latest shaming tidbit of barbarous stateside yahoo nitwittery towards distinguished visiting foreign artists in the fatuous name of “security”, a sacrosanct word which for the incumbent criminal administration apparently excuses no matter what indignities.
The Berlin Philharmonic, billed by Carnegie Hall for four concerts with its conductor Sir Simon Rattle as the main attraction in its lavish November salute to this wonderful city I’ve adopted as my own home town of choice, has no less than three (3) world-class violin virtuosos who all bear the supreme title “Erster Konzertmeister” (First - sic - Concert Master), rotating in coördination with the orchestra’s conductors. My source this morning tells me that the priceless instrument owned by one of them (I feel 99.44% certain that during our brief encounter he identified it as a Guarnerius, in value right next to the unique Stradivarius instruments, customarily worth well over $1,000,000) attracted the professional attention of the evident ruffian giving him a going-over as part of ascertaining whether he merited admittance to the USA along with the rest of his fellow Berliner Philharmoniker.
That heavy-handed worthy reportedly handled the literally priceless instrument the same way he might have handled a cigar-box, and when the violinist took exception to that, one thing understandably led to another, and his examiners wound up - believe it or not - clapping handcuffs on him and leading him away.
I fully realize that account strains credulity to the limit; I can say only that I’ve known my source long and thoroughly enough to regard that account - especially from someone definitely in a position to know - as totally responsible and reliable.
To my earlier posting here (headed “Why did Abbado really cancel?” - i.e., his scheduled Carnegie Hall appearance as conductor of his own Lucerne Festival Orchestra), some craven reader reacted with an anonymous comment, immediately zapped, that accused me of generalized anti-American “ranting”. Damned right I’ll rant - and continue to rant - over such inexcusable redneck outrages, especially when everyone else I’ve tried both here and in the USA to enlist in protesting this anti-cultural barbarism immediately turns tail and runs rather than risk ruffling any official Washington feathers that might possibly jeopardize any future stateside engagements or tours, understandably so highly prized by all such foreign ensembles.
