Klarinet Archive - Posting 000696.txt from 1996/10

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Berlin Phil clarinetists?
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 18:16:09 -0500

On Fri, 25 Oct 1996, Richard Johnson wrote:

> Having watched a few symphony concerts, I've concluded that a professional
> orchestra needs a conductor basically so that they all start together.
> Most of the conductors I've watched on TV would be so hard to follow
> (where the heck is one? and you hardly ever see an ictus.) that I
> probably would never look at them either, I'd just play along with the
> rest of the group.

In professional orchestras, the role of the conductor is NOT to beat
time and, thus, an ictus in their baton technique is not as important as
it might be in less-advanced groups. When players are at the level of the
San Francisco Symphony, the conductor does not typically need to worry about
whether his musicians will play in tempo, play the right notes and rhythms,
or come in at the right measure number. The conductor's role is centered
more on musical interpretation, and on guiding the orchestra through a
cohesive concept of how the musical form and phrases are to be articulated.
What sets apart conductors like Tilson-Thomas, Mehta, Abbado, and others
is not that they beat a clear 4/4 beat, but that they elicit well-crafted
musical interpretations from their orchestras, drawing from the players
their own passion for the music they're creating. Much like how polished
professional players reach a point where mere notes, rhythms, and technique
become second nature, conductors develop to the point where knowing the score
and understanding form and phrasing are taken for granted. It then becomes a
matter of growing and capitalizing on their own personal style, combining
their mature academic expertise with charisma in such a way that the musicians
understand what they're trying to "say" and say it. Never mind the
beat. Reiner barely moved his baton. Masur conducts with clenched fists.
Few would contest the genius of either.

Neil