Let's Watch CONDUCTORS
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 มิ.ย. 2024
- In this video, I wanted to watch and chat about some conducting footage. I wanted to select some lesser known tapes while pointing out the nuances and challenges of being an orchestra conductor (or any kind of musical director).
Herbert von Karajan, Seiji Ozawa, Benjamin Zander, Leonard Bernstein, and Percy Grainger!
I hope you enjoy the video. Be sure to comment, like, and subscribe. Let me know who to watch next!
Clips used:
• Ivan Fischer and the B...
• Mahler Sinfonie nr. 2 ...
• Mahler Symphony No. 2 ...
• Youth Builds a Symphony
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0:00 Intro (Herbert von Karajan)
1:31 Mahler's 2nd Symphony Finale
1:54 Seiji Ozawa: Rule Bending
3:49 Benjamin Zander: Text Emphasis
5:58 Leonard Bernstein: Before the Beat
6:36 Percy Grainger: No Rules Ever
8:13 Outro - เพลง
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Hello, just because I didn’t watch YOUR FAVORITE conductor in this video, doesn’t mean they aren’t great!!!
I am hilighting some lesser known conductors for your entertainment. The entire world does not revolve around YOUR FAVORITE THINGS. 👍
Leonard Bernstein was a Legend. He was not only a good conductor but also a good composer
I totally agree. A genius!
@@DylanMayMusic Really, how did he qualify for the title "genius" in any way? I can think of 10 conductors who were better than Bernstein, and I would call any of them genius.
@@DylanMayMusic He was a great teacher and wrote some great music for the theatre, but as you say, a good conductor.
Two conductors from totally different periods who you dont mention, and are quite unique, are Simon Rattle and, my (and many others) favorite, Carlos Kleiber.
Rattle is odd because his work truly is flattened out by his cd recordings, which can seem pedantic or lifeless - but in live performance, he was thrilling.
I grew up in Los Angeles during his tenure as a very young chief guest conductor with the L A Phil and saw him many, many times - and then had the pleasure of seeing him conduct multiple times in London and with his home orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony - in performance his style is based in a wild, engaging, communicative connection with the players and score. - a highly dramatic way of conveying emotion, often speaking continuously (not singing) and achieving a power and elegance utterly missing from his cd recordings - i would start by watching the complete live performance of the Mahler 2 from the 90s with Birmingham - it conveys some of his magic.
And then there is Kleiber -
The definition of eccentric genius - the only conductor Bernstein greeted by kneeling to the ground in love and respect
Its hard to convey exactly what it is about him but i know he is the only conductor who brings me to tears within moments of watching him conduct anything - and thank god there are is a decent amount of live footage out there of his incredibly small repetoire -
In a career spanning 5 decades, he only conducted 96 live concerts - only 6 in the US (of which i attended one in Chicago - perhaps my most treasured musical memory)
Start with any of his New Years concerts with the Vienna Phil where he doesnt conduct so much as listen, dance, cajole and, frankly, make love with both the orchestra and the scores - or his Beethoven 7. - or either of his Rosenkavaliers
His cd recordings convey some of his brilliance but it is in watching him and his utterly unique style of living/breathing the music that is heartbreaking - Bernstein certainly has this quality but one always has a feeling he was aware of a camera somewhere recording his genius
The thing about Kleiber is there is nothing - and i mean, nothing - between him, the composer, and the players - it's not about the audience - it's not about posterity
It's about the music.
I will do some follow ups on other conductors!
@DylanMayComposer I just sent you two Kleiber videos on your email
The amazing Beethoven 7 from a concert in Japan
And an example of his way with Strauss
I hope they are inspiring for you
When Bernstein greeted CK in public with a hoarse and impassioned, "You are a god. A God!", Kleiber was mortified and always thereafter contrived to avoid ever meeting Lenny in public. It was just too horrible for him. In his 50-year career, Kleiber gave ONE interview, a brief radio piece in 1960. That was it. These were VERY different personalities.
@@charlesbarber8166 absolutely right - i love that story - they were completely different personalities and different artists - and both truly unique -
YES. (thx). @@laramiejon
Stravinsky also conducted with his fist. He got the job done.
Nice video. I have played under three of these guys. Zander for a few decades, Ozawa for a single concert, and Bernstein for an afternoon. Zander is often quite erratic in his technique; this film catches him behaving well and getting good results. I do like his vision of the Resurrection (played with him several times), but he doesn't always discipline himself enough to be useful to musicians. Seiji, on the other hand, while he did wear out his welcome in Boston was a fabulous technician. I was the last kid violinist chosen to beef up a BMC concert of Also Sprach Zarathustra, and it was astounding how many difficulties melted away when he was on the podium. I remember one where the violins had a fast scale up to a high note which was held seemingly forever. Just as I was remembering that there was a huge rest when we cut off, and also remembering that I'd forgotten to count, he was giving a cue that solved the problem completely. And he was sending information out not just with his hands but through his toes.
WOW!!! This is such wonderful info and I thank you for sharing it!
Very insightful. I completely understand what you are saying about Zander being erratic and how some conductors can really save your hide from the podium.
Comments like these are the best. 👍
Great insights. Have seen Ozawa many times, live right near Tanglewood. Amazing emotion he shows. Also Percy Grainger, never saw him or knew about his conducting. In junior high school I learned the Gried piano concerto in his edition. Give us more!
Thank you so much!
Ozawa was great! As a conductor myself its important to show those syncopations when the time is right. If you are always showing the sub division while conducting than it loses meaning and clarity. Ozawa was simply helping the trumpets on the sub division during the Mahler. No rule bending, just great clarity.
Totally. I just always see conductors pulling off things my teacher said were a big NO NO.
I'll always find Grainger to be a wild guy, but there is something fascinating about the way he conducts! I feel as though it represents the music he's written - it always has this harsh, angry feeling about it, even if it's beautiful or calm music. I.e. the harvest hymn example you had shown in this video. I love that piece of music so much, and yet you can tell that he probably despised every minute of writing it!
Really fascinating stuff, and I love seeing insight into your opinion on other conductors. I'm interested as a composer/musician myself, and wanting to get better at conducting!
Let me put it this way:
To me, Grainger makes others look like they are moving in slow motion (musically). He will always be the overlooked legend. Am I biased? Yes, and very proud of it. 😂
And to think after the concert grainger went home and whipped himself and often a friend. There exists a collection of his.various flagellatiin implements. Then there was the weirdness of his mother. She fakes her death to see is he would grieve for her. I prefer his perversions to his music!
Can I recommend you to read “Absolutely on Music” by Haruki Murakami, where he records a series of conversations with Ozawa? It gives a lot of insight into the approaches taken by Ozawa, Bernstein and Karajan (and others), and they talk a lot about their approach to Mahler.
Thank you so much for recommending. I will look into it!!! 👍 📖
This video should be much longer!
Fret not! I will make more with user recommendations.
❤The general rule is dont watch the conductor.. Listen! Try it with Lenny. Impossible! Sadly missed. MW.
How did Bernstein conduct so far ahead of the beat? He.says on the beat and you are late, but he is sometimes half a measure ahead.
👏
HvK is certainly right. When conducting if you lose concentration for a second you can get lost and ...
Disaster! Only had to do it in college. I've never been so scared. I imagined I could feel the hate of the orchestra. They were going to expose me as the fraud that I am. They didn't and I got through it.
I rarely see major conductors following any sort of regular pattern. 🤷
I agree.
Furtwangler felt he shouldn't beat time but rather draw the shape of the music in the air with the baton.
Seiji Ozawa's interpretation of the resurrection ending is way too rushed. Each note in that ending needs to be drawn out from my perspective. Leonard Bernstein's approach is far more appropriate for this piece. I wouldn't be commenting if I didn't think this was extremely important lol. Like I don't even like the ending when it's rushed. It ruins it for me. But when I hear Leonard's interpretation It is just perfection to my ears Maybe not for you but that's how I see it. Like imagine you're rising from the grave, would you let each note ring out? or run past each glorious harmonic moment.
I entirely see the point you’re making! And it’s a very good point.
I actually am liking it taken a few clicks fast. Probably cause I’m weird and wrong. The resurrection has an underlying intensity to me that I enjoy rushed. (Ozawa’s galloping rhythm after the climax for example).
Every time I hear Bernstein’s, it seems to get slower and slower until Christ just lays back down.
Oh, the many views of music. I totally respect your points and they are valid!
@@DylanMayMusic I always feel like Lenny is calling Christ on his private line
@@DylanMayMusic hey that’s valid too lol. To each their own ✨
This is why I LOVE these topics. So many different takeaways.
I tell my students, as long as you can justify your musical opinions. If you like a song, you should be able to explain why. (Everyone’s explication is unique). None of us view it quite the same.