Perceptive Insight 7

Mozart said about Ludwig van Beethoven: "Keep your eye on him. He'll make the world talk some day."

Conductors: Be Practical

Here's my most recent article in a series about ways a conductor can transform their rehearsals:

Conductors: Be Practical

Perceptive Insight 6

"A single man (Sir Thomas Beecham) did more for British music than was done by the massed battalions of the BBC. He was not only the greatest British conductor, he was also the greatest impresario of the age, endlessly stimulating and naturally DISLIKED BY EVERYONE except his appreciative audiences."
A.J.P. Taylor, 1965

Can this be considered cruetly to animals?

[PS - whatever it is, it's funny]



I grew up on Freddie Starr's comedy (when my parents weren't watching). Most entertaining. Watch him 'whistle' in a duet with Des O'Connor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnN3nD6pCus

Stories

Here's an article about transforming rehearsals. It's for conductors of amateur & youth groups. Don't forget to rate it UP when finished reading!

Stories

Perceptive Insight 5

In 1936 Sir John Barbirolli was appointed conductor of the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York (now the New York Philharmonic) in succession to Arturo Toscanini. After six months Toscanini returned to conduct a concert. He said to Barbirolli, "John, my orchestra is just as I left it." Barbirolli's contract was then renewed for a further two years.

The Quotable Stephen P Brown

Thanks must go to Christopher Swann for this one:

"The plural of orchestra is 'Berlioz'."

Orchestral Common Sense?

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What's this? Someone again talking common sense? Perhaps our failed economic structure prompts the publication of the murmuring quiet undertones amongst those who see reality.

Good on yer, Mr. Kaiser! Raise that question mightily high.

Does the Symphonic Orchestra Model Work?

Not financially, is the answer. Solution? I have some ideas, but nothing anyone would ever take seriously, particularly as there are unions involved on all sides. Hmmm. Therein lies its own problems, perhaps.

Let them play

All Conductors!
Read this article: Let them play
and then rate it UP!

A man after my own perspective!

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Having very rarely subscribed to many conducting industry propoganda-norms, especially the politics (perhaps one of the primary reasons for the lack of a 'successful' full-time conducting career), I am extremely pleased to have heard this:

Just heard on a British classical music radio station that the vastly-recorded Valery Gergiev prefers to perform with an orchestra just slightly under-rehearsed. Apparently he thinks that over-rehearsal (which to a British musician means more than once, perhaps twice) is the bane of orchestral life, and he likes to keep musicians on their toes: a concert with some 'wits' about it produces a far better experience for everyone.

Yippee! Finally, concordance from an established household name!!!
I feel justified in another of my own perspectives, at last.

Perceptive Insight 4

Besides being a celebrated conductor, Hans von Bulow was also a remarkable pianist. He was once asked his opinion about a performer who experienced a memory lapse during a recital, and resorted to improvising. Bulow's comment on the improvization: "Well, it wasn't as bad as what he could remember."

Live Music Survey Prize goes to...

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Thank you SO VERY MUCH for all 214 responses to my 'Live Music' survey. After printing them all (but before cataloging them), I threw them up in the air and picked one up. Congratulations, Susan Chara! Your $50 Amazon gift card is on it's way to you!!!

It's taken me quite a while to read everyone's comments, but these made me smile, laugh, or cry!:

• Definition: "Live music is when you and the musician making the music are in the same room." (Leslie)


• Technology: "...there is no accounting for taste." (Ruan)


• Recordings: "The outside world is shut out." (Martha)


• Mental: "It's medicine for a troubled mind." (Ann, quoting Walter Haddon)


• Physical: "Reduce stress." (Harry)


• Social: "People are... less uptight!" (Jane)

Again, thank you so very much for sharing your opinions and insight. Collectively, it will create a good foundation for reading someday!