Klarinet Archive - Posting 000573.txt from 1996/10

From: Andrew Grenci <agrenci@-----.NET>
Subj: Value of Conductors
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 01:22:42 -0400

Reading some of these comments about conductors reminds me of a statement
made jokingly by a very fine conductor (Otto Werner-Mueller, when teaching
at Yale).

"A professional orchestra only needs a downbeat and a paycheck, and if the
paycheck is big enough you can forget the downbeat"

Such joking aside, it is sad that the likes of Fred J. have only played for
bad conductors. I have played for many bad conductors, but have played for
some very good ones as well. The bottom line is that different conductors
do make different sounds come out of the same group. A fine conductor has
much to give in performance, even with professional players. For example,
let's hear from someone who has heard the NY Phil both before and after the
arrival Masur.

Here are some of my thoughts, as a non-conductor, about what musicians,
professional and otherwise, have a right to ask of conductors.

1. The conductor should know the score better than anyone else on stage (or
in the audience for that matter)

2. The conductor should have a clear concept of what the piece "is about"

3. The conductor should have a plan for how to transform the score into
what the piece "is about" in performance

I can't help it if a lot of conductors do not do all of this, but many try
and some succeed. Probably they succeed as often as we clarinetists do in
acheiving perfection in our art.

Andy

BTW, it is always possible that some of those players who were observed to
be blatantly not gawking at the conductor were using peripheral vision, a
most important tool for the symphonic player.

>Fred Jacobowitz wrote:
>>
>> George,
>> I can tell you from bitter experience that all too often it is
>> very confusing to look at a conductor. The bad ones have unreadable
>> and/or confusing beats and ours in Annapolis Symphony (Maryland) often
>> gives bad or wrong cues (when she remembers to give them at all). So it
>> is not surprising that musicians don't look at the conductors.Frankly, I
>> belive that 99% of what conductors do is for their own benefit, as they
>> have to
>> SOMETHING to keep occupied. With top orchestras, the musicians have played
>> most of the music many times and are quite familiar with it. They don't
>>need a
>> conductor to play together. They play with each other. So why look at
>> him? It is only a distraction. They will look up at the right moment
>> when there needs to be a "traffic cop" and hopefully the conductor will
>> be there. There is a very delicate balance between
>> being helpful and getting in the way and only the best conductors
>> understand that concept enough to do the former and not the latter. Any
>> conductor who has an orchestra looking at him alot is either an
>> egotistical idoit who wats to be watched or
>> is conducting a very inexperienced group of players. Pros don't need much
>> from a conductor and to make them look at one will only detract from
>> their full concentration on making beautiful music.
>>
>> Fred Jacobowitz
>> Clarinet/Sax Instructor, Peabody Preparatory
>>
>> On Tue, 22 Oct 1996, George Lin wrote:
>>
>> > Is this a desirable thing to not have the orchestra look at the baton of
>> > the conductor? I always thought you need to look up avery once in a
>>while...
>> >
>> > George Lin
>> >Fred, your comments are right on the nose! I conduct a church orchestra
>and have found out that I am only important during rehearsals to
>pinpoint mistakes and in performances to set tempos and direct tempo
>changes and fermatas. Once in a while a musician will look up for a
>cue, but usually they are very busy with the music.
> The best thing that a conductor can do is stay out of the way until
>needed and not add any fancy conducting to confuse the musicians!
>
>Deborah Shaw