Musicians’ Worst Nightmares

by Janet Horvath  November 3rd, 2018

A musician’s pre-concert anxieties often show up in our worst nightmares—you are on stage and have no idea what piece you are playing, or you show up for the concert and you are the piano soloist (you don’t play the piano), or no matter how hard you try, you cannot get to the concert hall—your feet drag as you struggle to move and you are quite relieved when you awake in confusion, and in a tangle of sheets. Sometimes your instrument morphs into some nightmarish creature and comes to get you. Certainly, a cellist’s worst nightmare is descending to hell and finding you have to play Pachelbel’s Canon for all eternity! The cellist of the Piano Guys defies that fate in his rendition.  

The funny thing is, strange mishaps happen in a musician’s life. I’ve woken up in horror in the middle of the night realizing that I left my instrument backstage at a concert hall. I’ve gone to the wrong venue, and even left a bow on an airplane. Consider the now famous story when pianist Maria João Pires prepared the wrong Mozart piano concerto and discovered the error onstage when the orchestra began playing a different concerto!  

Just this month, I had an out-of-town performance, which includes a PowerPoint presentation. The presenters assure me that my recital partner, Heather MacLaughlin, would have a wonderful Steinway grand to play in the recital hall. I nervously consult my list of the things I need—two music stands: check; cello and bow: check; computer, adaptor, power cord: check; sheet music and written notes: check; a puck for the pesky endpin that could slip at the most inopportune moment, rosin for the bow, and extra strings should one break during the concert: check; and most important, snacks for the drive, and enough gas in the car: check.

Playing is the easy part. My stomach clenches when I think of the likely technological complications…no projector or screen, or they won’t know how to hook it up, or the PowerPoint won’t work, or the more common problems—no decent chair, inferior lighting, no place to warm up, the hall will be freezing, or we arrive on the wrong date, like the dream I had the previous night.

Despite road construction and traffic jams, we arrive well in advance of the performance. The fine arts building is a huge structure housing not only two concert venues, but also the theater, and the fine arts, and music departments. We hurry inside to set up, wasting precious time lost in the maze of corridors and classrooms. Someone finally leads us to the recital hall and to my delight, a very competent technology person has the projector going, the screen in position, the cords available, and in no time, my computer is hooked up. The piano, concealed under a thick, black quilted cover, has been pushed to the extreme left side of the stage but it’ll be no sweat to remove the cover and put the piano in place, now that the technology is working.

We heave the cover off and muscle the piano to the middle of the stage. As I start unpacking my cello I hear a little squeal of dismay. “The piano is locked!” Heather whispers. She asks the technology person if he has the key. “Just have to track down the building manager,” he says, “Hopefully she hasn’t left for the day.” Several minutes click by but he returns triumphant, with a key. After wiggling it this way and that, he realizes it’s not the right key, and scurries up the aisle, out of the hall, and down the long corridor. It is now 15 minutes prior to concert time. Not a young man, he returns gasping, forgoes the stairs, and leaps onto the stage clutching a key. He tries it. We hear several expletives because this one doesn’t work either. Heather and I exchange a glance verging on panic. The technology person rushes off again. Moments before the program is to begin, he appears wheezing alarmingly, with a third key. It magically releases the ivory keys with just enough time for Heather to play one quick scale before the performance. Who knew the piano would be wearing a chastity belt?


Brazilian pianist, Eliane Rodrigues handled her piano malfunction nightmare with aplomb. She began her program of Chopin’s Preludes, Polonaises, and Piazzolla’s works, with Chopin’s Polonaise Fantasie Op.61 only to discover the sostenuto pedal had a mind of its own. Once she hit a note the tone kept ringing, and ringing—pedal without using a pedal. “Alo?” Rodrigues said attempting to get the stage manager’s attention. The dilemma was conveyed to the staff and one could hear a flurry of activity offstage as they hurried to find a substitute piano. Rodrigues continued to play a few non-programmed tunes while the stagehands rushed onstage. They unlocked the wheels of the piano to position it deeper into the stage. Rodrigues stood and remained standing and playing as they cordoned off the piano and the piano bench. The audience watched as the piano and Rodrigues lowered—down, down, disappearing into the bowels of the stage. She could be heard from the depths. Within a few moments the audience caught sight of the top of Rodrigues’ head, and the piano and the pianist ascended into view, Rodrigues still standing and playing a different piano.  

And can I tell you how many times the sheet music has fallen off the music stand…even into the audience?

My latest nightmares involve keys— missing keys to my cello case, the piano, and the concert hall. Or who hasn’t experienced a locked dressing room or green room door? In my dream for some reason, I am wearing pajamas and my cello and my concert attire are locked inside just before a solo performance. From now on “keys” will be on my checklist. Despite my list, performance problems will plague musicians. What could be more embarrassing?

15 Career Cellists Who Became Conductors

by Janet Horvath 

To be a good conductor, you must first play a musical instrument. We professionals who’ve played in professional orchestras appreciate the conductors who have emerged from the ranks. They learn from the inside what we need from them, to name a few: Sir Neville Marriner (violin), Edo de Waart (oboe), Serge Koussevitzky (double bass), Thomas Søndergård (timpani), and Jaap van Zweden (violin – the youngest concertmaster ever appointed to the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra).

But it’s a bit rarer when world-renowned instrumentalists turn to conducting after a brilliant career as a soloist. Some extremely talented musicians do (or did) both such as Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Pinchas Zukerman, and Mitsuko Uchida.

Cellists becoming conductors seem to lead the pack. Did you know these 15 conductors were cellists in a previous life?

Arturo Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) is considered by many to be the greatest conductor of all time. A perfectionist, with a phenomenal ear, an outstanding memory, and relentless intensity, his outbursts are legendary. He began as a cellist and even played the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello in 1887 at La Scala while Verdi supervised. Later, Toscanini became principal conductor at La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera (1908-1915) and the New York Philharmonic (1926-1936), as well as the famous NBC Symphony Orchestra from 1937-1954, becoming a household name. He got results. Listen to him berate the orchestra, especially the bass section (scary!), and then to this sparkling interpretation of Mozart’s Cassation in G major, the “Toy” Symphony with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. 

Toscanini screaming!

Sir John Barbirolli

Sir John Barbirolli (1899-1970) a British cellist who became a conductor, was famous for his vibrant and expressive music making as well as his sarcastic and acerbic wit. He began his music lessons on the violin, but continually wandered around when he was practising, constantly underfoot. Barbirolli’s grandfather bought him a small cello. He couldn’t walk around playing that! Barbirolli played in theatres and cafés before joining Queen’s Hall Orchestra in 1916, becoming their youngest orchestral musician, and after World War I, he played in the London Symphony. Barbirolli succeeded Toscanini in 1936 as the music director of the New York Philharmonic (1936-1941). In 1943, Barbirolli returned to Manchester (miraculously missing being a passenger on the aircraft that was shot down with Leslie Howard on it) and rebuilt the Hallé, decimated by WWII. Later, he conducted the Houston Symphony (1960-1967), and he was a frequent guest conductor with the most important orchestras.

Pau (Pablo) Casals

Pau (Pablo) Casals (1876-1973), one of the world’s most prominent cellists, a composer, conductor, and humanitarian, toured the world playing in the most wonderful concert halls in the world. In 1919, he founded the Pau Casals Orchestra in Barcelona, which he conducted until 1936. Casals made his Carnegie Hall recital debut in 1904 and his Carnegie debut as a conductor in 1922. In 1927, the centenary of Beethoven’s death, Casals was invited to play and conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. He appeared frequently in Germany, but despite invitations from Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1934 to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic, Casals refused to play in Germany again with the rise of the Nazi regime. A lifelong and staunch defender of freedom, in 1939, due to Franco’s victory in the Spanish Civil War, Casals fled to Prades, France, an isolated Catalan village, to protest the Spanish fascist regime. Illustrious musicians repeatedly appealed to him to change his decision to live in exile, but Casals indicated that silencing the music, “is not a matter of money; it is just a matter of morality.” A group of musicians decided they must go to him instead and founded the now famous Prades Festival in 1950. Casals moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1957 and lived there until his death. Widely credited with discovering and promoting the Bach Six Solo Cello Suites in 1890 in Barcelona, his words still inspire generations of musicians:

“Music is never the same for me, never. Every day, there is something new, fantastic, and extraordinary. Bach, like nature, is a miracle!”

Read more from ‘Pablo Casals: a total musician’.

Heinrich Schiff © Dan Porges/Getty Images

Heinrich Schiff (1951-2016), an Austrian cellist, studied with André Navarra, making his London and Vienna debuts in 1971. He is esteemed for his performances and recordings of the Bach Solo Cello Suites, Shostakovich Concertos, and the Brahms Double Concerto, featuring Frank Peter Zimmerman. Schiff was also a champion of new music. He made his conducting debut in 1986 and subsequently was appointed to the Northern Sinfonia from 1990 to 1996, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra from 2005 to 2008, and was also associated with the Copenhagen Philharmonic. Sadly, he suffered a stroke in 2008, which compelled him to relinquish playing the cello and to focus on conducting. Schiff’s notable students include Truls Mørk, Gautier Capuçon and Natalie Clein. Listen to him play the fiery second movement of Shostakovich’s Sonata Op 40.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1929-2016) was a conductor, music researcher, and pioneer of historical performance practice. Harnoncourt, a cellist in the Vienna Symphony for 17 years before he became a conductor, performed with and learning from such illustrious maestros as Herbert von Karajan, Karl Richter, Karl Böhm, and Wilhelm Furtwängler. His debut as a conductor occurred in 1972 at La Scala, featuring Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria by Monteverdi. He held the position of professor of historical performance practice at the Mozarteum Salzburg from 1973 to 1992. In the 1990s and 2000s, he shifted to romantic music and the music of the 20th century. Here he is conducting the Kyrie from Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

Mstislav Rostropovich in tutu

Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007) one of the great cellists of our time who inspired numerous composers to write for him, (nearly 200 works and many commissioned by him), possessed a commanding and dazzling technique. He championed Soviet composers, as well as the cello as a solo instrument, and he was a fine pianist. His energy seemed inexhaustible. Sometimes he said only partially in jest, “when I am tired of playing the cello, I accompany my wife on the piano, and when I tire of that, I teach.” Did I mention he regularly slept only 3 hours a night? He was outspoken in his humanitarian ideals, so much so that the Soviet regime began to penalise him for his outspoken support of fellow artists such as the writer Solzhenitsyn. Slava arrived in exile in London in 1974. Rostropovich had had the conducting bug at age 13, but his father wisely cautioned him to wait. In the west, he rebuilt his career, becoming music director and conductor of Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra in 1977, a position he held until 1994. I can attest to his magnetic and effusive personality, radiating especially when he led master classes or when he conducted or performed for humanitarian causes. Perhaps you didn’t know he was a jokester?

Mstislav Rostropovich in tutu

Victor Herbert

Victor Herbert (1859-1924), best known for his composing, operettas, stage music, and musicals (Babes in Toyland), began his career as a cellist in Vienna and Stuttgart. Once he moved to the US, he was the assistant conductor with the New York Philharmonic for 11 seasons, conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony (1898-1904) and then his own Victor Herbert Orchestra. He continued to perform as a cello soloist throughout the country. His numerous cello compositions include the lovely Cello Concerto No. 2 in E minor Op 30.

Alfred Wallenstein

Alfred Wallenstein (1898-1983) was an American cellist and conductor. His musical family emigrated from Europe to Los Angeles in 1905, and when Alfred turned 8, his father gave him a choice between a bicycle or a cello. Fortunately for the music world, he chose the latter. Emerging as a child prodigy, he soon joined the San Francisco Symphony and then the Los Angeles Philharmonic, their youngest member. After studying with Julius Klengel in Leipzig, he was snapped up to play with the Chicago Symphony, performing for seven seasons there. Always looking to enrich himself, he auditioned for Toscanini, and in 1929, Wallenstein became the New York Philharmonic principal cello, often appearing as a soloist. In 1931, Wallenstein began to conduct, becoming the Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducting major orchestras as a guest, leading music festivals, and in 1968, joining the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music.

Ennio Bolognini © alchetron.com

Ennio Bolognini (1893-1979) a cellist, guitarist, composer, conductor, a professional boxer and pilot, hails from Argentina. He was the principal cello of the Chicago Symphony for one season. Bolognini conducted at Grant Park and later founded the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra (not to be confused with the orchestra today). Here’s an anecdote: One day, when Casals, Piatigorsky and Feuermann were together, Feuermann said, “Pablo. It is not you, nor Grisha, nor I who is the greatest cellist in the world. It is Ennio Bolognini.” He was quite a character. Ennio, as a young teenager, played the Swan with Saint-Saëns and the Sonata of Richard Strauss with the composer. Here is a lovely example of one of his cello bonbons played by cellist Christina Walevska.

Read more from ‘Legendary Cellists Christina Walevska and Ennio Bolognini’.

Frieda Belinfante

Frieda Belinfante (1904-1995), the Dutch cellist, conductor, and Nazi-resistance fighter, was invited by the Concertgebouw management in Amsterdam in 1937 to form and direct a chamber orchestra, a position she held until 1941—the first woman to conduct a professional ensemble in Europe. Belinfante also appeared with the Dutch National Radio and other orchestras of Europe as a guest conductor. After the war, she joined the music faculty of UCLA in 1949 to teach cello and conducting, and she became the music director of the Orange County Philharmonic Society.

Read more from ‘Forgotten Cellist, Conductor, Heroine and LGBTQ advocate: Frieda Belinfante’.

Susanna Mälkki

Susanna Mälkki (1969-) is a Finnish conductor who won first prize at the Turku National Cello Competition. From 1995 to 1998, she was principal cello of the Gothenburg Symphony. Currently the Chief Conductor emeritus of the Helsinki Philharmonic, she was their Chief Conductor from 2016 to 2023, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 2017 to 2022. Mälkki has been in demand as a guest conductor worldwide in opera houses and with orchestras including the Wiener Symphoniker, Berlin Philharmoniker, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and the Chicago, Boston, and London Symphonies. Meet Susanna Mälkki in this short video.

Conductor Susanna Mälkki on Her Met Opera Debut 

Han-Na Chang © Luciano Romano

Han-Na Chang (1982-), a South Korean conductor and cellist, began playing the piano at age 3 and the cello at the age of 6. She studied with Mstislav Rostropovich, winning the First Prize at the Fifth International Rostropovich Cello Competition in Paris in 1994 at the age of 11. Her recording of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and Saint-Saëns Concerto is with her mentor conducting. She is now the chief conductor of the Trondheim Philharmonic. Chang is travelling widely, appearing with orchestras the world over. She recently made her debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducting Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 and Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote with Tatjana Vassiljeva-Monnier, first principal cello, as soloist, playing the role of the noble knight, and principal viola Santa Vižine playing the role of Sancho Panza—three women artists featured together!  

Nicolas Altstaedt

Nicolas Altstaedt (1982-), the compelling French-German cellist, has performed widely as a soloist from Berlin to Seoul, and Detroit to London, and he has performed chamber music with illustrious collaborators. As a conductor, he has worked with the Scottish and Munich Chamber Orchestras and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. In 2015, Adam Fisher chose him to succeed him as the artistic director of the Haydn Philharmonie through 2022. He has not been idle for a minute during the 2024/25 season, which included several recordings, impressive debuts as a cellist, and conducting debuts with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, and Kyoto Symphony. Hear him play a work of fellow conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, 2 Fragments for Lockenhaus: Ritual and Pentatonic Chain.

Eric Jacobsen

Eric Jacobsen (1982-), an American conductor and cellist, is the artistic director and co-founder of the chamber orchestra The Knights and the music director of the Virginia Symphony. He is in his 10th season as Music Director of the Orlando Philharmonic. As a cellist, he and his brother founded the String quartet Brooklyn Rider, and he performed often with Yo-Yo Ma as a member of the Silk Road Ensemble.

Klaus Mäkelä © Marco Borggreve

Klaus Mäkelä (1996-) At age 31, Finnish conductor will be the second youngest chief conductor of the Concertgebouw ever when he takes on the role in 2027, and he has recently been appointed Music Director Designate of the Chicago Symphony, once again the youngest to lead the orchestra. He currently holds positions with the Oslo Philharmonic, with whom he has made several recordings, and four seasons with the Orchestre de Paris. As a cellist, he’s performed at the famed Verbier Festival (including this summer), and he is in demand as a guest conductor with orchestras including the London Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Berliner Philharmoniker, among others. Hold on to your seats. Here he is conducting the Infernal Dance from Stravinsky’s Firebird. 

And for a contrast a sublime ending to Mahler Symphony No. 8 with the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam this year.  

Are you convinced? Cellists are a unique bunch who may have extraordinary communicative abilities in addition to their cello-playing gifts.

*inspired by a social media post of the Concertgebouw

Why D-Flat Major Should Be One of Our Favorite Keys

 by Janet Horvath

“What? D-Flat Major?” Most string players wail, “that’s a key signature with FIVE FLATS!”

I don’t blame them. It’s so much more difficult to play in tune on string instruments without the resonance of the open strings.

Pianists, though, will be elated. They get to play on all of the black keys. Numerous composers have used D-flat major to depict lush, dreamy sounds, and to explore the richness and depth of expression imaginable in this key.

Perhaps you know that many composers associated specific emotions with certain keys. The key of E-flat major is a case in point, a key that is considered heroic. Think Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 The Eroica, Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, a Hero’s Life, and dozens of string quartets and symphonies by Haydn, Sibelius, Elgar, Dvořák, Mozart, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Mahler.

Frédéric Chopin © Getty Image

One of the most famous piece for piano in D-flat is the Chopin Prelude Op. 28 No. 15 “Raindrop.” Chopin did not ascribe the name to this prelude. It begins hushed and pensive, and the affecting melody leaves us in a subdued mood. It turns suspenseful, becoming more chordal and powerful. The right hand continues the inexorable rhythm and generates the feeling of inevitability with its repeated and steady A-flats that seem to imitate raindrops. But the opening melodic line returns reassuring us, and the piece resolves peacefully. Whatever you imagine when you hear it, there is no denying the emotions generated.

Jean Sibelius

Romance in D-flat is an exquisite piece by Sibelius. Upon first hearing, you might think it’s a work of Chopin and I wouldn’t blame you. It’s amorous with flourishes and emotions you would associate with Chopin. Sibelius is not necessarily known as a solo piano composer. Ten pieces make up Sibelius’ Opus 24, composed between 1895 and 1903, and they are stunning. Diverging from his huge symphonic works puzzled Sibelius’ children too who asked him why he wrote these solo piano works, he responded, “In order for you to have bread and butter.”    

Sergei Prokofiev © Esoterica Art Agency 2018

Written in 1901 as a birthday gift, the D-flat major Romance has been published and performed separately. The Andantino opens with a two-bar chordal introduction in the right hand with a lyrical cello-like melody entering in the left hand. It’s gorgeous. The middle section becomes vibrant and agitated with octaves and chords marked with accents on each note, and the instruction, “forte crescendo possible.” A cadenza with rapid notes, is breathtakingly dramatic. The magnificent resonance achieved in this piece is due in part to the pianist flying all over the black keys.

Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 10 was composed in 1911, and is dedicated to the Russian composer, pianist, and conductor, the “dreaded Tcherepnin” with whom Prokofiev worked at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Although the piano concerto is only fifteen minutes long, in one movement, Prokofiev marked eleven distinct sections of varying tempos and disposition. From charm to the grotesque, every mood is depicted. The piece begins as it ends with an expansive, yearning, and deliberate theme in D-flat major with heart-thumping punctuation in the timpani. Electrifying octaves in the piano bring the piece to a finish.

Gabriel Fauré

Gabriel Fauré Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11 is a work for mixed chorus and piano or organ, with lyrics by the 17th-century poet Racine. A version for strings and harp is breathtaking. The text “Verbe égal au Très-Haut” or Word One with the Highest, is from a Latin hymn “O Light of Light” attributed to the fourth century bishop of Milan, St. Ambrose. The refined and sublime piece hints at the music of the Requiem Fauré composed later in life. Only 20 years old when he composed this piece, we are assured of his position as one of the greatest composers of French choral music when we hear the Cantique. A dazzling lilting melody opens the piece. The chorus enters with the lowest voices first and gradually expands to include the higher voices. After another interlude of the instruments alone, Fauré continues this technique and we experience a ravishing series of colors, dynamics, and textures, enhanced by the resounding key of D-flat.

Antonín Dvořák

Dvořák Scherzo Capriccioso Op.66 B.131, is an orchestral work composed in 1883. The D-flat major key allows the composer to explore not only the Czech folk music we usually expect but a more dark, opaque, and restless mood. Featuring a full complement of instruments such as the harp, triangle, English horn, and bass clarinet, Dvořák achieves a brilliant variety of tone colors and wondrous melodies, his forte. The English horn solo is especially poignant.

Amy Beach © Amybeach.org

Some composers actually see colors when he or she hears certain keys or pitches, a condition called synesthesia, in other words the perception of one sense through another. Amy Beach was one of these composers and D-flat major, for Beach, represented the color violet, traditionally associated with wealth, royalty, and the divine. The first section of her 1925 work Canticle of the Sun a cantata for chorus, soloists, and orchestra Op. 123, sets a thirteenth century text by St. Francis of Assisi. The piece begins Lento con Maesta, with the feelings of searching, of hesitancy, and then bursts into the key of D-flat major—the strong D-flat major chord used on the word “God” imbuing the word with wonder and veneration. The use of the key here is powerful as well as opulent.

I’m convinced and I hope you are too. D-flat major should be considered one of our favorite keys!

How Conductors Explain Conducting

by Janet Horvath, Interlude

When audiences are transported by a concert, they imagine that a kind of magic happens onstage attributed to the conductor. Sometimes that is true. But many other attendees wonder: what does a conductor actually do?

We’re in luck. Several conductors have shared their theories about how to conduct. Richard Strauss for example, who was not only a wonderful composer but also an exacting conductor, published these instructive Ten Golden Rules for the Album of a Young Conductor in 1927. We published them in 2015 but many of them bear repeating here:

• Remember that you are making music not to amuse yourself, but to delight your audience.

• You should not perspire when conducting. Only the audience should get warm.

(My teacher Janos Starker used to say, “Don’t be so moved. Move your audiences.”)

• Never look encouragingly at the brass except with a brief glance to give an important cue.

(Richard Wagner quipped, “Never look at the trombones…It only encourages them.” This quote is also attributed to Strauss!)

• But never let the horns and woodwinds out of your sight. If you can hear them at all, they are still too strong.

• It is not enough that you yourself should hear every word the soloist sings. You should know it by heart anyway. The audience must be able to follow without effort. If they do not understand the words, they will go to sleep.

• When you think you have reached the limits of prestissimo, double the pace.

Some conductors do accelerate to unplayable tempos. I’ve experienced it! Strauss later, in 1948, changed his mind: Today I should like to amend this. Take the tempo half as fast.

Conductor and legendary pianist Daniel Barenboim seconds that notion:

“The tempo is the suitcase. If the suitcase is too small, everything is completely wrinkled. If the tempo is too fast, everything becomes so scrambled you can’t understand it.”

Herbert von Karajan, the famed conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic added, “Quick music sounds dull unless every note is articulated.”

Renowned composer and conductor Gustav Mahler agreed, “If you think you’re boring your audience go slower not faster.”

Gustav Mahler

There are a lot of opinions on how to interpret music and there are often differences in timing and tempo. Take Beethoven’s famous opening to his Symphony No. 5. I think you’ll be surprised by the versions of the first four bars from Carlos Kleiber, Claudio Abbado, Herbert von Karajan, Pierre Boulez, Bruno Walter, and John Eliot Gardiner. Carlos Kleiber with Vienna plays in a refined style, while Pierre Boulez leads a diabolically slow opening to the 5th.

Comparing 5 conductors VERY different openings of Beethoven 5th Symphony (& why they chose that) 

Aside from being a timekeeper, what more does a conductor do? During an interview when asked this question, Sir Simon Rattle responded, “It’s one of the great fake professions…We are nothing without the orchestra…”

Sir Simon Rattle

Simon Rattle | What Does A Conductor Actually Do?

South Korean pianist and conductor Myung Whun Chung recently elaborated,

“A conductor almost by definition is a strange animal; he is the only musician on stage that makes no sound, yet he is responsible for everyone else’s. I often would like to think of myself as just a colleague or collaborator with the other musicians, but ultimately, we must come together to be the truthful messengers of the composer we play – and make their music come alive!”

Like other professions, sometimes there’s a domineering and controlling boss. We orchestral players have been subject to heavy-handed conductors, ones we disagree with, or even incapable ones we must ignore.

We’re surprised that Herbert von Karajan, the maestro with a legendary sound, who was an autocrat, once said, “The art of conducting consists in knowing when to stop conducting to let the orchestra play.”

And this is fascinating. Simon Rattle on Karajan:

Simon Rattle on Herbert von Karajan 

Leonard Bernstein, who was the music director of the New York Philharmonic from 1957-1970 and recorded with them until the end of his life, puts it in a nutshell,

“Conducting is like making love to a hundred people at the same time.”

The wonderful thing about music-making is that each orchestra has a personality and will sound different depending on the maestro in front of them. And we can tell from the first upbeat in the music whether the leader is any good. One conductor will inspire a refined, polished sound while another will coax a more robust and aggressive quality, and everything is reflected through the different people onstage.

Conducting gestures vary. The stick or hand technique is essential, but every gesture, facial expression, and overall body language matters.

Here’s an illustration:

Breaking down orchestra conducting gestures to show you what they mean 

Many conductors have an affinity to certain music and a predilection for conducting those works. Our former music director Osmo Vänskä, for example, was terrific with the works of Jean Sibelius but not comfortable with French music. The Minnesota Orchestra’s complete recordings of all the Beethoven Symphonies are considered one of the best, especially of the 4th and 5th symphonies. Other wonderful interpreters include Otto Klemperer, Riccardo Chailly, with Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra, and Carlos Kleiber. Wilhelm Furtwängler’s Beethoven No. 9 performance at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus live in 1951 is notable, and Karajan of course.

Watch this rare live video of excerpts of Beethoven Symphony No. 9 being rehearsed and performed by Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker. It’s their New Year’s Eve concert of 1977 and was the first ever to be broadcast live.

Excerpts of Beethoven’s 9 rehearsal and performance by Herbert von Karajan (1977) 

Some composers inspire controversy, and Maher was certainly one of them. Gustav Mahler, the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna Opera conductor from 1898-1901 and beyond, is quoted as saying, “A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.” Admired Mahler interpreters include Leonard Bernstein, who was critical in reviving Mahler’s music.

Claudio Abbado, Klaus Tennstedt, Rafael Kubelik, and Sir Simon Rattle, who says, “The Mahler virus is incurable,” are also noted Mahler interpreters. But here’s a caveat from von Karajan.

“Mahler’s music is full of dangers and traps, and one of them, which many fall into, is over sensualizing the thing until it becomes sort of …kitsch.” (‘Kitsch’— when art is considered in poor taste due to garishness or sentimentality.)

From Maestro: Encounters With Conductors of Today
Helena Matheopoulos book “Maestro” consisting of interviews with the world’s twenty-three top orchestral conductors.

Conductors tend to disagree on this subject too. One’s tasteless interpretation is another’s deep revelation.

Strauss even said so, “Must one become seventy years old to recognize that one’s greatest strength lies in creating musical kitsch?”

You might ask, can an orchestra play without a conductor? Of course we can.

I recently came across an outstanding orchestra that plays without a conductor. Now don’t get me wrong. There is a long tradition of smaller ensembles, chamber orchestras, that play without a conductor. In fact, we have one here in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul—the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Their stellar performances often lead me to say, “they must be psychic!” as they do not only relegate themselves to so-called classical repertoire of Haydn and Mozart, but they play challenging contemporary works such as Bartók Divertimento, with aplomb and brilliance.

The Going Home Project Orchestra based in Korea plays large-scale works without a conductor including, Stravinsky Rite of Spring, an exceedingly complex work with difficult rhythms and tempo changes. Uncanny. I was flabbergasted at their brilliance as well as their impeccable ensemble. The famous bassoon opening is gorgeous, and the playing of the orchestra throughout is virtuosic.

Self-conducted Live Performance of “Le Sacre du Printemps” 

But the maestro can make magic happen onstage and then it’s inexplicable even to us. Whatever the interpretation we agree with von Karajan,

“To be involved professionally in a thing as creative as music is a great privilege and we have a duty to make in such a way that we can help bring pleasure and a sense of fulfillment to those who are not so fortunate {to be able to play music}.” From Osborne’s Conversations.

I hope this explains conducting. But if you’d like to know more, here is a delightful interview with Simon Rattle, who speaks candidly about his art.