Posted by richard on October 30, 2003 at 19:23:00:
In Reply to: Re: Re: conductors... posted by Captain Jack on October 30, 2003 at 17:12:14:
Mr. Lanchbery suffered no fool lightly. A friend of mine in the NY ABT orchestra kept a daily diary of Lanchbery stories, most of them Wildeian or Wodehouse-ian quips and one liners. Your violinist friend put himself in harm's way just bring it up, and Jack would never miss an opportunty to deliver a stinger of a reply to such a question, especially if there was a room to play to.
I never played ABT, but did Royal and Australian NY dates and US tours. I never heard him referred to as "Captain Jack" though I can see it. To us, he was Mr. Lanchbery or Jack. He had a dark side, but even if you weren't the greatest player, if you were responsive and intelligent in your approach, did your job and didn't waste time, he was incredibly loyal. I studied with great teachers, and worked with other really good conductors, but I'm still a better musician having worked with him than I had been before.