Tír Na HiFi

Bernstein uses facial expressions to conduct Haydn:

^^ maybe if he had used a baton, then his tempi would have been recogniseable by someone composing during the classical era.. ;-)

Q: Who needs a baton to conduct Haydn?

A: Leonard Bernstein

;-)

Very interesting. I have been following the Malko (young conducting) competition in Copenhagen a bit over the last week, and one of the big debates was exactly that: facial expression. How much should the conductor say with face and body language as opposed to just telling the orchestra with words? It has been very educational to watch the analyses of some of the performances; especially when they showed how conductors can very easily loose their direction and let a whole piece fall apart, just from forgetting to show a clear beat f.ex.

The funniest part was when a rather dim (female) interviewer asked some of the female orchestra members about differences between male and female conductors (of whom there were 4). Here are some of the main differences:

The male conductors seem easier to read as they usually are a short, pudgy shape with short arms sticking out. This gives them a rounder, more organic expression in terms of the tone. Female conductors are never "pudgy" unless they are pregnant.

The male conductors wear various lovely golden chains which attract great attention. This chain clearly comes as a set with the baton they reckoned. And it is clearly audible in the tone of the conductor. Female conductors are usually buttoned up of course and can't avail of this advantage.

The male conductors usually smell very strongly of either cologne or BO, making a very distinct impression on musicians. Especially if hugs are given.

The male conductors always sport a weird, long and slightly mad hairstyle helping get the whole orchestra going.

The female musicians told all of this totally dead pan and had to point out in the end that they were obviously joking! The interviewer never got the irony and was clearly annoyed when she discovered how she had been fooled all along. :D

Ah Claus, that is a super post, I love it, thanks for that.

All joking aside, I do like Bernstein's work, in particular his Beethoven, Mahler & Sibelius symphony cycles.