robertwhite

Perhaps some smaller orchestras, being understandably concerned with raising the general level of playing as the orchestra fills vacancies, sometimes try to find the player who makes the biggest impression, period. Not that this justifies Richmond's 2nd round, but it may explain why all the flashy stuff was there.

Sometimes weirdness results when the committee discusses their votes, rather than do it anonymously like Chicago, Boston, etc.
My friends have all heard this story, but I once auditioned for Principal of a "regional" but esteemed orchestra. I played a very strong first round, but had a big clam along the way in a loud excerpt from Mahler 5 (not the opening). It didn't phase me, and they didn't stop me at any point or cut me off early.

The comittee asked me to play a couple of things again, but not the excerpt I had cracked on. For example, they asked me to do Schumann 2 (which I had played about as well as I possibly could) again, even softer. I did and it went great. And so on and so on...

Long story short, I felt as confident as I ever have after that first round - but no dice. As I was packing up after hearing the bad news, I asked the Pers. Mgr. for a contact I could reach for comments. He said "were you number 'x' ?" I said I was, and he goes, "the comittee wanted me to express to you how much they enjoyed hearing you play today. They were very impressed."