Germanic....perhaps

The mighty Berliner Philharmoniker:  one of the greatest, if not the greatest, orchestras in the world and with a proud tradition going back 130 years.

I had always assumed – and, yes, assumptions are dangerous things – that its ranks would be made up of haughty Germans, born and bred.  But, like football teams, this is clearly no longer the case.

We went to a pre-Proms event  featuring three members of the Berlin Phil -  french-horn,  viola and  double-bass.  

The compere  knowingly asked them to introduce themselves and say where they came from.  The result:  Two Americans and an Aussie, and with broad dialects to match. 

Apparently nearly half of the orchestra are now non-native, as it were. 

I was left wondering why I  -  and, I suspect, most of the audience – were so surprised.