Re: The role of conductors


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Posted by Richard on May 18, 2001 at 22:31:38:

In Reply to: The role of conductors posted by Dominic Marino on May 18, 2001 at 21:08:40:

John Lanchbery, chief conductor with the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden in the late 60s and early 70s, as well as the Australian Ballet in teh 70s, when I played the New York and US tours with them. Had he directed himself toward a high profile career in symphony/opera, I'm convinced he'd have achieved recognition as a world class conductor. I got to play virtually the entire standard ballet repertoire with him, including Rite of Spring and Daphnis and Chloe. His body language, sticking, face, eyes, hypnotic, like the freaking devil. His rehearsals, a stern and demanding taskmaster who suffers no fools lightly, but respects and supports those who stay tuned in and are there when he "beckons." His wit is trenchent and Wildean. Most players stay tuned in 'cause they don't want to miss any of those great one liners.

From him I feel I learned how music works from the inside, how it is driven by it's bass lines, inner voices, and rhythmic motivs. He always directs his attention to the pulse, he's never been a "pretty melody" conductor. Doing those jobs with him was like being in a highly advanced orchestral conservatory. It taught me how to listen, and how to hear in ways that have transfered to other work, and even chamber music, as well as how to get through gigs with really bad conductors.

As much as I've written barely scratches the surface.


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