The Orchestra, The Concertmaster, And His Tell-All Blog (Oh My…)

When the Seattle Symphony fired longtime concertmaster Ilka Talvi last summer, he took the orchestra to arbitration. But this is the internet age, a time when the agrieved… write a blog. In the week since Talvi started Schmaltzuberalles he’s dished deep and unflatteringly about his former orchestra and Gerard Schwarz, its music director. Sure names have been changed in the blog, but it’s not difficult to figure out who’s who. Word of the blog has spread like wildfire through the orchestra world, and evidently has even caught the attention of Seattle Symphony management. Talvi writes that a few days after the blog began, the orchestra called to fire his violinist wife from her contracted SSO work. The next day Talvi writes of getting a visit from Seattle police, acting on a complaint about the blog…