I'm an electrical engineer specialized in telecommunications. I was super happy to see a video about why good and bad conductors make a difference. I wasn't expecting this. Still enjoyed it 9/10
as a mechanical engineer, this comment made me cackle bc of your initial confusion, but curiosity to stay 😂😂 Twoset is wonderful, I hope you check out more of their videos !!
@@samaritan29 It's rare to see them take out their violins and do a challenge, nowadays, it's mostly reacting and some other things unrelated at times.
Good point about the rehearsals too - I often think that a big part of the conductor's job is NOT what they do on the podium at the concert, it's how they prep the orchestra. A great conductor could still do a good job on minimal rehearsal, but the ideal situation is that they have rehearsal time to prep the orchestra for what they want on the day of.
i mean yes and no. for amateur orchestras yes, but for professionals oftentimes these players have played these works dozens with different conductors. they’ve done the prep already over the course of their career. big professional orchestras often get only one rehearsal before these concerts, *maybe* two if they’re lucky and it’s a lot of unusual music. lots of these conductors- maybe with the exception of people like karajan who were with the same orchestra for decades- tweak small details in their one rehearsal but otherwise there’s very minimal actual prep. so they really do need to be super clear- there’s more leeway for orchestras who get multiple rehearsals and get to more time to understand/memorize specific gestures
@@sergeirachmaninoff7805 I think for the pros, it’s not that the prep helps them learn the piece, but that it helps them to know what the conductor wants. So what might be unclear conducting on a cold viewing could be perfectly fine if you’ve had a rehearsal and gotten a feel for what they plan to do.
@@sergeirachmaninoff7805 Not even professional orchestras rehearse only once and on with the concert. Maybe for a Beethoven or Mozart symphony but no way you can work all the details and personal vision in only one rehearsal if what is in the program is a Mahler symphony or something like that.
Yeah in the US is one rehearsal I heard, but in Europe the symphony gets at least 2 + dress rehearsal. Plus at least 1 for the first half. So they do get to dive a bit deeper into the piece. Speaking of big pro orchestras ofc, not some 1 reharsal shit gig ahah
I was privileged enough to play in a concert with Rattle a few months ago, he came out of retirement to play with our youth orchestra. This man is unholy. During rehearsal he could pick out the tiniest details which even we didnt notice looking st our parts, and elevaate the sound to another level. He wasnt just conducting he was making music.
Sir Simon hasn't retired at all. He's currently Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic.
There's an old YT video of him doing a live rehearsal with a youth orchestra of In the Hall of the Mountain King in front of an audience and it's fascinating. It must have been so amazing for you to experience something like that yourself!
A good conductor is consistent in his/her moves and, most importantly, MAKES FACES. It's not always obvious to us musicians following a score what energy to give to the performance by hand gestures alone: a good angry or relaxed face make all the difference
Then again, there were some great conductors who were pretty unclear in their movements. Furtwängler was probably the most famous, the Berlin Phil musicians sometimes complained about his vague way of giving the beat. The story is that they convinced him to try out a more clear style but he absolutely hated how it sounded. Furtwängler liked the lack of clarity because he thought it made for a more organic and improvisational sound. Considering that he's one of the greatest conductors of all time, he was probably right. You can actually hear it on his recordings, the different sections of the orchestra often don't come in at exactly the same time. It's subtle but it does allow you to hear the different lines more clearly. Of course you can only do that with a world-class orchestra like the Berlin Phil, with a less distinguished orchestra the result would probably be absolute chaos.
For reference! 0:54 Masato Usuki 2:16 Leonard Bernstein 3:17 Daniel Barenboim 4:14 John Eliot Gardiner 5:09 Christian Thielemann 6:28 Simon Rattle 7:18 Herbert Von Karajan 8:26 Myung-Whun Chung 9:31 Mikhail Pletnev 10:50 Gianandrea Noseda 11:37 Karl Bohm 12:44 Seiji Ozawa
When our conductor was ill, we got one of her colleagues, who in my estimation was stirring soup the entire time rather than conducting. It was go awful. He just vaguely waved his hands. He walked away declaring we had no sense of rhythm 😭
Yes, gave me goosebumps about how they went from this niche little music channel to one of the most influential things that's happened to classical music in our time! All my musician friends, classical or not, watch and adore them!
I’ll just say: I found this channel April 2 years ago. They pulled me out of a tough spot and saved me from having to repeat the 10th grade. Now, I’m sitting here writing this comment only a few hours after I walked across the stage. I’ll never forget these videos. They are such treat to watch, and I’ve genuinely learned a lot. I wish you all the best, and please never lose this beautiful talent.
Such a beautiful comment!! Thanks for writing this. This inspires me to move on with my own life too!! Let's hope we both meet one day and I get to say the same thing you said but this time about your comment. And remember if you can inspire slowly, you can inspire fastly😊 Gotta go practice now
Congrats on your graduation! 🤩 Whatever your future holds, I hope it makes you happy, and I hope you're proud of everything you've accomplished to get to this stage.
As someone who has never played in an orchestra, this video was very interesting, but I want MORE!!! More explanation what makes a conductor clear or not, what's some unique features conductors do or how they interpret pieces, and conductor comparisons with dofferences and similarities and maybe some kinds of groups? Like, do Russian conductors do something American ones don't etc
I'll try to give you some info. A good conductor makes clear movements and will usually be on the beat. They can use their spare hand (the one not holding the baton) to contro the orchestra's volume.
The best thing about Russian conductors is that many of them speak no English, so they can't bore you to death with their "brilliant" insights into the music.
What Karl Bohm could convey by just his eyes snd shoulders is fascinating. And Von Karajan showed why he was so great. I am sorry you did not include Georg Solti. I had the pleasure of hearing him conduct this from "his" box at Symphony Hall in Chicago snd it was amazing - one of the greatest musical experiences of my life!
Seiji Ozawa guy's movements were soo nice to watch. And no, I'm not a musician in any shape or form but I could hear the music from his movements for some reason. It was soo nice
This, gentleman, is a great video. I work as a conductor in the pit for ballet and musical theater. My focus is on being as clear as possible. It might not look flashy, but the musicians feel good (Well, I hope....)
It’s also worth mentioning that often times conductors will tell the orchestra what certain gestures mean in certain spots in the music. So a single rehearsal often clears up any ambiguity.
I love how your attitudes are so different when you play, kind of like a golden retriever and a cat, with Brett having the biggest smile on his face while Eddy is so concentrated he almost looks angry at times...
loving how different they all are? there's such room for nuance, little decisions that make a performance unique. so glad I'm getting into classical music
I feel like I haven't seen them play in their video for a very long time, now finally!! I know they are on tour and everything so they don't have time to practice pieces for their video, so I really hope that after their tour is done, they can record some serious playing videos like before!! I love seeing them playing together so much!!
I know the first one, because I'm studying conducting, the maestro counts up to 3 because, Beethoven's 5th doesn't start at downbeat, it has a eighth rest on donwnbeat, so the orchestra actually plays after the donwbeat, that's why he gives the tempo prior to the downbeat, it's not on any formal conducting guide, but, it has been adopted by most conductors and it became a good practice, because Beethoven's 5th is easy to play and very hard to conduct.
That’s a good point! I remember many times during my concert career where the conductor would give us a measure of conducting to set up the tempo before we come in. It’s hard to anticipate this if not told about beforehand, though
I've crossed my fingers for Sir Simon Rattle. His wife - opera singer Magdalena Kozena - comes from my hometown Brno. She supports Czech art schools for children. And I love you boys, you are awesome. Btw, pronuntiation of Sevcik is soft, like Shevtcheek. So is csardas, like tchardash 😉
This was really cool to see! I haven't always understood when they say a conductor is good or bad, but this side by side comparison really helped to pinpoint what makes a conductor easy to follow!
In fact, he was one of the greatest conductors in the world imo. did he make a show? Of course, he did, every conductor makes it when he gained a certain amount of reputation. But besides that, he conducted very clearly and with brilliant accuracy.
How sad. He was my first conductor. My parents live down the street: From 1964 until 1968, Ozawa served as the first music director of the Ravinia Festival,[1] the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 1969 he served as the festival's principal conductor. I was 10 and we went to several concerts that year.
I've struggled to explain the importance of conductors to my non-musician friend. She thinks we should all essentially be robots and magically stay in time with each other without needing someone to conduct. I think I'll send her this video and see if that gets it through her head
I always say the conductor is like the coach of a sports team. CAN the players play a game without the coach? Yes, but they’re much better with a sense of direction from a single person.
I sing at a very amateur chorus and we have 4 conductors. We all know there is one good conductor and the other 3 need a looooot of work, noone is a musician there, it just hits different when you are conducted properly.
I love Eddy's serious face when he tried to focus and play😂fangirling rn lol While Brett is a cuttie pie who smiles through everything lol Love them so much!!!
Great video! I am mainly a choral conductor, but played violin in orchestras and sang with orchestras when I was a kid so I do understand the importance of clarity from both perspectives. I loved your video because I have often watched performances where I could not understand what the conductor was doing - so many superfluous gestures and shaky batons. It is so refreshing to realize that even the greats are not that great when it comes to clarity. I guess when an orchestra rehearses with one conductor on a regular basis they get to know their style/idiosyncrasies, and then learn to anticipate or adapt. Also, learning that the concert master has such an important role in leading the orchestra was a real revelation to me. I knew that the violins follow them for things like bowing, but I did not realize that they sometimes have to compensate for a bad conductor. Thank you.
I think the Berlin Phil. is always going to have a good conductor because the musicians get to choose the conductor. Also, from my conducting class, this is a challenging piece to conduct...especially the beginning...it demands rehearsal. And Pletnev is a pianist who does some conducting now that he's older...ijs.
Brett and Eddy back to the orchestra YES WE WANT TO SEE THAT!! TH-cam Symphony YES WE WANT TO SEE THAT!! Please make it happen!! We need to get to 5M!! Eddy as the concertmaster and Brett as the principal of the second violin lol, both of you need to try sth new!
I would like that instead of a new concert. It's hard topping Brett's Mendelson, Hope all Twosetters that play an instrument can be part of it. The only problem is them reaching 5 mil, they have been on 3,0 for too long. Thougt it would go up with touring, but it isn't.
@@pheonix4866 It would need to be a veteran commanding conductor with a cast repertoire as Toscanini and Stokowski were. Rattle? Salonen? Dudamel? Welser-Most? Noseda? Gatti? Slatkin? Vanska? Thielemann?
What really got me was that I could see the delay between the conductor and the musician. Logically, of course there's a beat where everyone processes what was 'said', but as the audience you just kind of think that the conductor baton and the sound should be an instantaneous match. Weird thing to take away with, I know.
Plus, the conductor has to prepare for cues in advance, because if he/she is giving the cue "on time", it's already too late for the musician... it must be weird for the conductor to essentially hear the whole thing before the sound appears, but I bet it's an amazing feeling. Like, you ask for this sound you have in your head, and then, as if by magic, it's there! (If the orchestra is good & you were clear with what you wanted from them)
@@toramenor thanks for this thread. I know nothing of orchestra, and was wondering if the video incrustation and them playing was delayed as the conductor was always ahead haha. Now i understand better 😊
So the “delay” actually isn’t that much in this piece because a lot of the music in Beethoven 5 is played on the off beats rather than directly on the beats, which is what conductors show. However, there is still definitely a dance between conductor and musician to ensure the ensemble is playing together and not make it feel like musicians are strictly following the conductor or that the conductor has no role. Simultaneously, as an exercise I’ve had conductors just stop conducting and force the ensemble to continue playing through listening alone
I recently joined my local community orchestra (violin) this year, and I’ve learned that the hardest part is figuring out who to follow. I think the trick is that you don’t ONLY follow the conductor (bc sometimes I’m like wth was that movement supposed to mean?) You actually follow the conductor AND the section leader, and you also learn which other instruments share your phrase or syncopate with your phrase etc and listen to them. You also listen to the overall direction of the piece and fit in that.
I like to think of all music as chamber music. Even with a conductor, you still use all the same cues that you would use when playing chamber music without a conductor.
What a fun video! What I found interesting, that they played differently with every conductor. Not only different tempo, but also different colours, vibe, energy. I absolutely love this! Will rewatch a few more times, because there is so much going on! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Guys, can I just say, I love your passion for music!
What a COOL experiment!! And SO illustrates the importance of rehearsals, where the orchestra learns what the conductor wants you to look at, and how to interpret his/her arm movements and facial expressions! (Although... I sang in a high school chorus many years ago for a summer youth music festival, and there were a couple of pieces we performed with the high school orchestra, but the conductor SUDDENLY changed his entire arm movements for the ending of one of the pieces -- almost like changing the steps of a dance without notifying the partner! -- and the orchestra and chorus became seriously disconnected -- and we were doing it for a recording, so it was memorialized... I remember thinking to myself, "What do those arm movements mean?? What does he want us to do??!?" In your language, I suddenly felt VERY unsafe!! And I remember that frightening feeling to this day!!) But there is also the joke about what a conductor does during the actual concert, and the answer is that he starts waving his arms when the music starts, and needs to stop precisely when the music stops. 😉🤣
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This was excellent! Invaluable feedback. In my humble opinion, every conductor or aspiring conductor shold watch this.
Great video. Thanks. Beethoven 5 is often called "The Conductor's Graveyard" for the very reasons you've demonstrated. Notoriously difficult to make it work on limited rehearsal time, especially the opening. It's why Sir Simon Rattle is SO good. Clear, economical and consistent.
this is such a cool video idea i loved it!! a good conductor makes everything so much easier. you can really tell when everyone is depending on the concertmaster lol
There's a huge difference between conductors interpretations of the same piece and this video proves it. For example Antal Dorati's version of The Rites Of Spring (with I think the Detroit Symphony?) is so perfect in tempo, so lacking in extraneous drama that it makes the intricate mechanisms and dynamics of the piece stand out in stark relief. If anything, by emphasizing the rhythmic perfection of the score the Rites sounds even more alien and frightening than more dramatic interpretations.
Masato Usuki! I played under his button many times including Beethoven 5 about 20 years ago. I still remember the feeling of Beet 5 beginning. He never cared musicians playing on time, but asks some kind of energy every time.
As someone who sang in world class choirs for decades with incredible choral conductors, choral conducting seems to be exceptionally different from orchestral conducting. There’s no way I would have come in when you guys knew to. This is sooo interesting.
This is one of the better videos I've seen from you in months.
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This is the best apology for orchestra conducting that exists. Feeling safe is the best compliment I've ever heard. I think that at the beginning you must be very clear in the mechanical gesture as when working with youth orchestras, here clearly the conductor makes a significant difference in the interpretation however, conducting is a mastery which means that we focus on details of the interpretation, the musicality and even the collective transcendence through the neuroconducting technique of the piece. It's like a pyramid of types of gesture but and above all that, as my Maestro Paolo Bortolameolli once told me, ultimately, all the information should be solely in the movement of the baton. The youtube symphony orchestra was created as one of the most ambitious orchestral realityshow project in the world once, it is time to invoke it once again and if there is anyone who can achieve it, it is you. Greetings from the end of the world, southern of Chile
@@Lyoneastroy 😀 I know, but still…I can’ t help but feel a bit offended by Sir Simon… there always was a huge glass of wheat beer for him backstage at the Philharmonie….😀
@@SusanneHochmann Well, Bavaria has very good wheat beer, including Erdinger, but I think the reason for his leaving the Berlin Phil is to lead a less stressful life.
Last year I went to my first classical concert. It was amazing. The conductor was Pietari Inkinen and on the violin solist was Pinchas Zukerman. They played Sibelius Finlandia, then Max Bruch Violin concert in g-minor op 26 and after that ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Sinfonie No. 8 G-Dur op. 88. Everything was so beautiful it made me cry. Sadly it wasn't recorded, so I couldn't buy it afterwards (I tried to buy it XD). Would be intereting if you would try following Pietari Inkinen. Btw amazing video. ^^ I play piano but I got to appreciate violin more through your videos and you inspired me to start playing again. ♥
In the '90s, I was lucky enough to attend nearly all of Sir Simon Rattle's concerts (as well as talks, meets and greets etc) when he was Director of the BSO,. You could tell that the orchestra loved and respected him. Still the best I've ever seen live*... both at engaging the audience (choosing interesting programmes/interacting/being playful) and being clear in his musical vision. The fact that TwoSet could follow him well and Brett felt 'safe' is testament to his skills. *Disclaimer: I never got to see von Karajan or Ozawa :)
How very different all these conductors are. It always brings to question how much of the conducting is for the audience and how much for the orchestra. There is always a great deal of theater involved. If you saw Bernstein in rehearsal, he usually just sat on a stool often with little more than marking the tempo--quite different from his live performances which are always highly animated. Seeing Simon Rattle in rehearsal, he is quite animated in rehearsal and in performance--check out his outstanding conducting of Britten's "Young Peoples Guide"
Great video - funny and informative. TSV video is like a serotonim pill. Very interesting idea as always. I was impressed at how Eddy is so analytical, to find out why they were not able to follow the conductor such as the conductor added an extra beat, there was a video cut, confusing hand movement , following the tipany etc.
The latency was hard to avoid, but I enjoyed this. more explanation about what you're looking for for us noobs would be nice :-) love you guys, as always.
I think i need to watch this video 3x. 1x to watch Twoset playing, 1x to watch them playing with the video, and 1x to watch their reactions to the playing. Brett looking extremely cute in this video 😊
This was a great one. I have played under a lot of different conductors for Beethoven 5 and I have seen quite a few of those conducting styles. Good job Two Set 🎶🎶🎶
LO those many years ago when I was playing in both concert bands and in the orchestra while in my undergrad years and before, the real key, for me, to be a great conductor is that the downbeat is always, always, always in the same spot. I love it when someone cues entrances on particularly difficult pieces, but as long as I can see where the downbeat is I'm golden. I can then play, glance up, and know that "one" will be where it always has been. If they get too dramatic with the flourishes and lose the one (none of them do, it just may seem that way) then I'm going to feel at sea. Great video guys.
I love this 🥰 I played in a concert on bass recently and there were several times that we could have used clear direction (and the tempo lowered by about 5bpm) especially on some final rall.notes in a bridge section to cement in the new key sig 🥺. A thought for an episode- have tuba/basses/percussion on and discuss the role of their instruments as the ‘engine room’ of the ensemble.
That was fun! So many more conductors to try: Solti, Reiner, Ormandy, etc. I had a conductor who used different fingers to cue different sections. The best was she cued the timps by fluttering her tongue. She also had a straight drop one without fail. She was so easy to follow.
This is great. Conductors need to take more accountability and I honestly feel like I’m playing to my fullest potential when there’s someone that knows what they’re doing. Thanks for this entertaining video 😅
There is a delay built into TH-cam recordings. If you watch and listen closely to any recording with a conductor, the audio will always be very slightly off from the video. So your attempts will always be slightly off if you only watch.
Fun video! I like the idea of delving into the qualities that make a conductor great, or even just what exactly does a conductor do! Here I think the lesson is "conduct" in the most basic sense: leadership. The conductor sets up not only the tempo, but signals what kind of energy is desired from the ensemble. Let's have more of this!
@@xandraxandra1437 thank u so much! this community is so kind, welcoming and talented. i already know who editor-san is, she is sooo cool and funny, it is such a dream to be friends with her 😍 i think i watched ~80 videos on this channel + some interviews/q&a/etc. and pressed "like" button on more than 50 of them so i can rewatch them later. brett and eddy have such strong bond and chemistry: i will never get bored of them. sorry for my english 🫡
I was impressed by how close to the orchestra most of these were. I've played along with orchestral TH-cam videos before, and no matter how good the conductor is, it's always harder to follow the conductor on a screen than in person.
Great video! As a mediocre trumpet player, I have played many off-stage "banda" parts. In such a case, we have to watch the conductor on a TV screen. It is SO hard. Also, our pitch goes flat and everyone tells us we are late, no matter how much we try to anticpate. Seeing you guys struggle with following a conductor on a video screen was strangely inspiring.
You guys should totally checkout the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s Ammodo Conducting Masterclass!!!!! This year’s session starts on June 24th, with Paavo Järvi mentoring.
Thank you so much for this amazing education on conducting! We play with Cleveland Classical Guitar Orchestra, and I just realized how much we should be very appreciative and respectful for our music conductor!
Whoa, I was already somewhat amazed by Simon Rattle when Karajan came along with his intense left hand gesture killing this score completely! :O what an impressive madman!
It’s so fascinating how much conductors really delve into showmanship when they are on the podium performance day! They clearly have enough trust in the musicians to carry on as rehearsed-but it’s interesting how much it can muddy the direction they had with the orchestra in rehearsals (most likely anyway-I’ve seen some conductors who are sort of just there 😂) Thanks for sharing TwoSet!
I'm an electrical engineer specialized in telecommunications. I was super happy to see a video about why good and bad conductors make a difference. I wasn't expecting this. Still enjoyed it 9/10
as a mechanical engineer, this comment made me cackle bc of your initial confusion, but curiosity to stay 😂😂
Twoset is wonderful, I hope you check out more of their videos !!
Lingling is the ultimate conductor, in both orchestras and electrical circuits.
lol your comment made my day 😂
Bwahahaha😂😂🎉
Having a good conductor is gold, wouldn't you agree?
If you can conduct slowly, you can conduct quickly.
😂
This joke has gone too far. If you can laugh slowly, you can laugh quickly.
If you can aMaZiNg slowly, you can aMaZiNg quickly!
If you can "p" slowly, you can "p" quickly
True, but you get hotter, quadratically.
This gives a really 2020-2021 TwoSetViolin vibe. I love these quality videos that delve into classical music, they're so entertaining and educational.
The reason why I clicked even tho it’s been so long since I’ve watched a twoset vid, this looked promising
Yes! I love all the classical music videos!
so how does that differ from 2022/2023-2024 "vibes"
Me as well!
@@samaritan29 It's rare to see them take out their violins and do a challenge, nowadays, it's mostly reacting and some other things unrelated at times.
Eddy has jumpstarted his conductor journey by messing-up his hair 😅
Yeah, I was wondering why his hair was a mess. Thanks for your insight
Wild hair, don't care.
lmao
Good point about the rehearsals too - I often think that a big part of the conductor's job is NOT what they do on the podium at the concert, it's how they prep the orchestra. A great conductor could still do a good job on minimal rehearsal, but the ideal situation is that they have rehearsal time to prep the orchestra for what they want on the day of.
i mean yes and no. for amateur orchestras yes, but for professionals oftentimes these players have played these works dozens with different conductors. they’ve done the prep already over the course of their career. big professional orchestras often get only one rehearsal before these concerts, *maybe* two if they’re lucky and it’s a lot of unusual music. lots of these conductors- maybe with the exception of people like karajan who were with the same orchestra for decades- tweak small details in their one rehearsal but otherwise there’s very minimal actual prep. so they really do need to be super clear- there’s more leeway for orchestras who get multiple rehearsals and get to more time to understand/memorize specific gestures
@@sergeirachmaninoff7805 I think for the pros, it’s not that the prep helps them learn the piece, but that it helps them to know what the conductor wants. So what might be unclear conducting on a cold viewing could be perfectly fine if you’ve had a rehearsal and gotten a feel for what they plan to do.
@@sergeirachmaninoff7805 Not even professional orchestras rehearse only once and on with the concert. Maybe for a Beethoven or Mozart symphony but no way you can work all the details and personal vision in only one rehearsal if what is in the program is a Mahler symphony or something like that.
I think of them as directors for a movie but an orchestra. They are there to impart a vision
Yeah in the US is one rehearsal I heard, but in Europe the symphony gets at least 2 + dress rehearsal. Plus at least 1 for the first half. So they do get to dive a bit deeper into the piece. Speaking of big pro orchestras ofc, not some 1 reharsal shit gig ahah
For every like this gets I will practice for 1 hour
…If I hold my instrument in my sleep does that count as practicing?
There you go @Elevate-music1, 40 Hours!!
Cringe
but real 👍
Looks like you'll be practicing everyday for an hour 😊
@@irenes8689 thats what my channel is for 😅
I was privileged enough to play in a concert with Rattle a few months ago, he came out of retirement to play with our youth orchestra. This man is unholy. During rehearsal he could pick out the tiniest details which even we didnt notice looking st our parts, and elevaate the sound to another level. He wasnt just conducting he was making music.
Sir Simon hasn't retired at all. He's currently Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic.
There's an old YT video of him doing a live rehearsal with a youth orchestra of In the Hall of the Mountain King in front of an audience and it's fascinating. It must have been so amazing for you to experience something like that yourself!
A good conductor is consistent in his/her moves and, most importantly, MAKES FACES. It's not always obvious to us musicians following a score what energy to give to the performance by hand gestures alone: a good angry or relaxed face make all the difference
Somehow, I immediately thought of Carlos Kleiber... 🤭
You mean like Ricardo Muti?
So, like a good sign language interpreter!
@@DameMitHermelin the best
Then again, there were some great conductors who were pretty unclear in their movements. Furtwängler was probably the most famous, the Berlin Phil musicians sometimes complained about his vague way of giving the beat. The story is that they convinced him to try out a more clear style but he absolutely hated how it sounded. Furtwängler liked the lack of clarity because he thought it made for a more organic and improvisational sound. Considering that he's one of the greatest conductors of all time, he was probably right. You can actually hear it on his recordings, the different sections of the orchestra often don't come in at exactly the same time. It's subtle but it does allow you to hear the different lines more clearly. Of course you can only do that with a world-class orchestra like the Berlin Phil, with a less distinguished orchestra the result would probably be absolute chaos.
My dad once performed with Karajan when he was still in uni and he is still IMPRESSED.
That's wonderful!! What precisely found he impressive? I need details please 🙏❤️
For reference!
0:54 Masato Usuki
2:16 Leonard Bernstein
3:17 Daniel Barenboim
4:14 John Eliot Gardiner
5:09 Christian Thielemann
6:28 Simon Rattle
7:18 Herbert Von Karajan
8:26 Myung-Whun Chung
9:31 Mikhail Pletnev
10:50 Gianandrea Noseda
11:37 Karl Bohm
12:44 Seiji Ozawa
Copper is a good conductor
Hi
Very true words
so is rubbing alcohol
@@jub8891 Rubbing alcohol is not a good conductor of electricity and heat
:)
There should be part two. We'd love to see more of you playing under different conductors and giving your on-point impressions.
Hello
Currentzis should be in part 2
And Dudamel.
And also definitely Abbado
Furtwangler?
When our conductor was ill, we got one of her colleagues, who in my estimation was stirring soup the entire time rather than conducting. It was go awful. He just vaguely waved his hands. He walked away declaring we had no sense of rhythm 😭
Jaw dropped at your 5 mil TH-cam symphony suggestion. If that can happen that'd be amazing!!!!!!
Yes, I really want to see that too! A pretty ambitious task putting it all together... but if anyone can manage it, they can!
Yes, gave me goosebumps about how they went from this niche little music channel to one of the most influential things that's happened to classical music in our time! All my musician friends, classical or not, watch and adore them!
Would LOVE TO BE A PART OF IT!
Yes! Clarinetist and conductor here and TOTALLY down for that!
I’ll just say: I found this channel April 2 years ago. They pulled me out of a tough spot and saved me from having to repeat the 10th grade. Now, I’m sitting here writing this comment only a few hours after I walked across the stage. I’ll never forget these videos. They are such treat to watch, and I’ve genuinely learned a lot. I wish you all the best, and please never lose this beautiful talent.
Such a beautiful comment!! Thanks for writing this. This inspires me to move on with my own life too!! Let's hope we both meet one day and I get to say the same thing you said but this time about your comment. And remember if you can inspire slowly, you can inspire fastly😊 Gotta go practice now
Congrats on your graduation! 🤩 Whatever your future holds, I hope it makes you happy, and I hope you're proud of everything you've accomplished to get to this stage.
Congratulations 🎉
As someone who has never played in an orchestra, this video was very interesting, but I want MORE!!! More explanation what makes a conductor clear or not, what's some unique features conductors do or how they interpret pieces, and conductor comparisons with dofferences and similarities and maybe some kinds of groups? Like, do Russian conductors do something American ones don't etc
Samee
I'll try to give you some info. A good conductor makes clear movements and will usually be on the beat. They can use their spare hand (the one not holding the baton) to contro the orchestra's volume.
The best thing about Russian conductors is that many of them speak no English, so they can't bore you to death with their "brilliant" insights into the music.
You are commenting things with substance and asking the real questions. Take my like.
"ERRY BODY DIFFERENT" is your answer.
Time to make a video on semiconductors next.
ive got a semi right now
Twoset physics!
Don't forget inductors. (I assume that means "people who pretend to conduct in their basements".)
@@clawsoon Do they share the basement with Editor-san? ;)
Gostei! ❤
What Karl Bohm could convey by just his eyes snd shoulders is fascinating. And Von Karajan showed why he was so great. I am sorry you did not include Georg Solti. I had the pleasure of hearing him conduct this from "his" box at Symphony Hall in Chicago snd it was amazing - one of the greatest musical experiences of my life!
Common wisdom is that many musicians went to Solti's funeral, just to make sure he was dead.
Solti realmente era muito bom.
As a conductor and violinist, I find this incredibly educational. Bravo TwoSet!
I'd be up for the youtube symphony :)
Seiji Ozawa guy's movements were soo nice to watch. And no, I'm not a musician in any shape or form but I could hear the music from his movements for some reason.
It was soo nice
I felt very safe is my new compliment for when someone does a good job
The best conductors practice 41 hours a day.
Should be the top comment
But Ling Ling will practice 40 milliseconds and will still do it better than we think.
What happened to the last hour
(llamaboz) Surely Ling Ling is also an experienced conductor - in both orchestra and physics!
Still missing by one the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
This, gentleman, is a great video. I work as a conductor in the pit for ballet and musical theater. My focus is on being as clear as possible. It might not look flashy, but the musicians feel good (Well, I hope....)
The best part of this video is hearing them play seriously, at least to the best to their or the conductor's ability.
I learned more about the differences between conductors in this video than I have learned in decades of symphony going. Thanks!
Karajan is my favorite. Absolutely brilliant and his command over the orchestra is always palpable
It’s also worth mentioning that often times conductors will tell the orchestra what certain gestures mean in certain spots in the music. So a single rehearsal often clears up any ambiguity.
I love how your attitudes are so different when you play, kind of like a golden retriever and a cat, with Brett having the biggest smile on his face while Eddy is so concentrated he almost looks angry at times...
loving how different they all are? there's such room for nuance, little decisions that make a performance unique. so glad I'm getting into classical music
8:02 Berlin Phil = Bergen Phil confirmed
Lol!
😂😂😂
I was wondering whaaaat?
I had to double check the principal conductor lists to make sure Karajan didn't conduct at Bergen
That's in Norway, isn't it?
Fantastic ! For orchestral players this is hysterical stuff. Thank you SO much for the work that you do. The industry owes you both a massive debt.
I feel like I haven't seen them play in their video for a very long time, now finally!! I know they are on tour and everything so they don't have time to practice pieces for their video, so I really hope that after their tour is done, they can record some serious playing videos like before!! I love seeing them playing together so much!!
yo you changed your profile pic
Never prep your prep. Clear cutoffs. Never subdivide beats. Cues are ALWAYS appreciated and eye contact is a MUST.
I know the first one, because I'm studying conducting, the maestro counts up to 3 because, Beethoven's 5th doesn't start at downbeat, it has a eighth rest on donwnbeat, so the orchestra actually plays after the donwbeat, that's why he gives the tempo prior to the downbeat, it's not on any formal conducting guide, but, it has been adopted by most conductors and it became a good practice, because Beethoven's 5th is easy to play and very hard to conduct.
That’s a good point! I remember many times during my concert career where the conductor would give us a measure of conducting to set up the tempo before we come in. It’s hard to anticipate this if not told about beforehand, though
I've crossed my fingers for Sir Simon Rattle. His wife - opera singer Magdalena Kozena - comes from my hometown Brno. She supports Czech art schools for children.
And I love you boys, you are awesome.
Btw, pronuntiation of Sevcik is soft, like Shevtcheek. So is csardas, like tchardash 😉
This was really cool to see! I haven't always understood when they say a conductor is good or bad, but this side by side comparison really helped to pinpoint what makes a conductor easy to follow!
People like to give Rattle shit for just being a showman but hes actually a phenomenal conductor, very clear and very knowledgeable.
Concordo em 200%
In fact, he was one of the greatest conductors in the world imo.
did he make a show? Of course, he did, every conductor makes it when he gained a certain amount of reputation. But besides that, he conducted very clearly and with brilliant accuracy.
I found out that maestro Ozawa passed away recently. Rest in Piece maestro and huge thanks for your wonderful recordings!
How sad. He was my first conductor. My parents live down the street: From 1964 until 1968, Ozawa served as the first music director of the Ravinia Festival,[1] the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 1969 he served as the festival's principal conductor. I was 10 and we went to several concerts that year.
This video is essentially "Keep up with the Konductors" 🤣
I don't get it
It's a play on the show "keeping up with the Kardashians"@@yiyuewu1984
@@yiyuewu1984 "Keeping up with the Kardashians", "Keeping up with the Konductors"
@@jenlau3954 Who tf are the Kardashians?
I've struggled to explain the importance of conductors to my non-musician friend. She thinks we should all essentially be robots and magically stay in time with each other without needing someone to conduct. I think I'll send her this video and see if that gets it through her head
I always say the conductor is like the coach of a sports team. CAN the players play a game without the coach? Yes, but they’re much better with a sense of direction from a single person.
Tell her she's ignorant
I sing at a very amateur chorus and we have 4 conductors. We all know there is one good conductor and the other 3 need a looooot of work, noone is a musician there, it just hits different when you are conducted properly.
I love Eddy's serious face when he tried to focus and play😂fangirling rn lol While Brett is a cuttie pie who smiles through everything lol Love them so much!!!
This is so real like bro look at his smile
Great video! I am mainly a choral conductor, but played violin in orchestras and sang with orchestras when I was a kid so I do understand the importance of clarity from both perspectives. I loved your video because I have often watched performances where I could not understand what the conductor was doing - so many superfluous gestures and shaky batons. It is so refreshing to realize that even the greats are not that great when it comes to clarity. I guess when an orchestra rehearses with one conductor on a regular basis they get to know their style/idiosyncrasies, and then learn to anticipate or adapt. Also, learning that the concert master has such an important role in leading the orchestra was a real revelation to me. I knew that the violins follow them for things like bowing, but I did not realize that they sometimes have to compensate for a bad conductor. Thank you.
I think the Berlin Phil. is always going to have a good conductor because the musicians get to choose the conductor. Also, from my conducting class, this is a challenging piece to conduct...especially the beginning...it demands rehearsal. And Pletnev is a pianist who does some conducting now that he's older...ijs.
An old lady here saying your two provided a very good time for me. Thank you. So joyful.
Brett and Eddy back to the orchestra YES WE WANT TO SEE THAT!! TH-cam Symphony YES WE WANT TO SEE THAT!! Please make it happen!! We need to get to 5M!! Eddy as the concertmaster and Brett as the principal of the second violin lol, both of you need to try sth new!
I would like that instead of a new concert. It's hard topping Brett's Mendelson,
Hope all Twosetters that play an instrument can be part of it.
The only problem is them reaching 5 mil, they have been on 3,0 for too long. Thougt it would go up with touring, but it isn't.
Yup, I second that!
A TH-cam Symphony....maybe like the NBC Symphony was in the 30s, 40s, and 50s.....
a youtube symphony would be absolutely epic
@@pheonix4866 It would need to be a veteran commanding conductor with a cast repertoire as Toscanini and Stokowski were. Rattle? Salonen? Dudamel? Welser-Most? Noseda? Gatti? Slatkin? Vanska? Thielemann?
What really got me was that I could see the delay between the conductor and the musician. Logically, of course there's a beat where everyone processes what was 'said', but as the audience you just kind of think that the conductor baton and the sound should be an instantaneous match. Weird thing to take away with, I know.
Plus, the conductor has to prepare for cues in advance, because if he/she is giving the cue "on time", it's already too late for the musician... it must be weird for the conductor to essentially hear the whole thing before the sound appears, but I bet it's an amazing feeling. Like, you ask for this sound you have in your head, and then, as if by magic, it's there! (If the orchestra is good & you were clear with what you wanted from them)
@@toramenor thanks for this thread. I know nothing of orchestra, and was wondering if the video incrustation and them playing was delayed as the conductor was always ahead haha. Now i understand better 😊
So the “delay” actually isn’t that much in this piece because a lot of the music in Beethoven 5 is played on the off beats rather than directly on the beats, which is what conductors show. However, there is still definitely a dance between conductor and musician to ensure the ensemble is playing together and not make it feel like musicians are strictly following the conductor or that the conductor has no role.
Simultaneously, as an exercise I’ve had conductors just stop conducting and force the ensemble to continue playing through listening alone
You're not alone, that was a revelation to me too😅
A big reason is a lot of the hits in this piece are on the upbeat. So the conductor hits the downbeat and you play on the upbeat.
I recently joined my local community orchestra (violin) this year, and I’ve learned that the hardest part is figuring out who to follow. I think the trick is that you don’t ONLY follow the conductor (bc sometimes I’m like wth was that movement supposed to mean?) You actually follow the conductor AND the section leader, and you also learn which other instruments share your phrase or syncopate with your phrase etc and listen to them. You also listen to the overall direction of the piece and fit in that.
I like to think of all music as chamber music. Even with a conductor, you still use all the same cues that you would use when playing chamber music without a conductor.
Concertmaster first than conductor
What a fun video! What I found interesting, that they played differently with every conductor. Not only different tempo, but also different colours, vibe, energy. I absolutely love this! Will rewatch a few more times, because there is so much going on!
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Guys, can I just say, I love your passion for music!
It's always a good day when TSV uploads!
I'm loving Eddys excentric music genius hair style ♡ fangirling so hard!
What a COOL experiment!!
And SO illustrates the importance of rehearsals, where the orchestra learns what the conductor wants you to look at, and how to interpret his/her arm movements and facial expressions!
(Although... I sang in a high school chorus many years ago for a summer youth music festival, and there were a couple of pieces we performed with the high school orchestra, but the conductor SUDDENLY changed his entire arm movements for the ending of one of the pieces -- almost like changing the steps of a dance without notifying the partner! -- and the orchestra and chorus became seriously disconnected -- and we were doing it for a recording, so it was memorialized... I remember thinking to myself, "What do those arm movements mean?? What does he want us to do??!?" In your language, I suddenly felt VERY unsafe!! And I remember that frightening feeling to this day!!)
But there is also the joke about what a conductor does during the actual concert, and the answer is that he starts waving his arms when the music starts, and needs to stop precisely when the music stops. 😉🤣
This was excellent! Invaluable feedback. In my humble opinion, every conductor or aspiring conductor shold watch this.
Great video. Thanks.
Beethoven 5 is often called "The Conductor's Graveyard" for the very reasons you've demonstrated. Notoriously difficult to make it work on limited rehearsal time, especially the opening. It's why Sir Simon Rattle is SO good. Clear, economical and consistent.
this is such a cool video idea i loved it!! a good conductor makes everything so much easier. you can really tell when everyone is depending on the concertmaster lol
After hearing the Twoset recording with Karajan's recording I had to clap. Sooooo much satisfaction from the synchronization
It's also very interesting to see the different conducting styles and interpretations of the music.
There's a huge difference between conductors interpretations of the same piece and this video proves it. For example Antal Dorati's version of The Rites Of Spring (with I think the Detroit Symphony?) is so perfect in tempo, so lacking in extraneous drama that it makes the intricate mechanisms and dynamics of the piece stand out in stark relief. If anything, by emphasizing the rhythmic perfection of the score the Rites sounds even more alien and frightening than more dramatic interpretations.
Masato Usuki! I played under his button many times including Beethoven 5 about 20 years ago. I still remember the feeling of Beet 5 beginning. He never cared musicians playing on time, but asks some kind of energy every time.
As someone who sang in world class choirs for decades with incredible choral conductors, choral conducting seems to be exceptionally different from orchestral conducting. There’s no way I would have come in when you guys knew to. This is sooo interesting.
This is one of the better videos I've seen from you in months.
This is the best apology for orchestra conducting that exists. Feeling safe is the best compliment I've ever heard.
I think that at the beginning you must be very clear in the mechanical gesture as when working with youth orchestras, here clearly the conductor makes a significant difference in the interpretation however, conducting is a mastery which means that we focus on details of the interpretation, the musicality and even the collective transcendence through the neuroconducting technique of the piece. It's like a pyramid of types of gesture but and above all that, as my Maestro Paolo Bortolameolli once told me, ultimately, all the information should be solely in the movement of the baton.
The youtube symphony orchestra was created as one of the most ambitious orchestral realityshow project in the world once, it is time to invoke it once again and if there is anyone who can achieve it, it is you. Greetings from the end of the world, southern of Chile
7:59 Simon Rattle was also chief of the Berliner Philharmoniker.
And abbado
Yes, but he did resign - never got my head around that. Come on, you don‘t just resign from Berlin Phil !!!
He just figured out Munich has way better beer! 😄 (he is with BR now in Munich)
@@Lyoneastroy 😀 I know, but still…I can’ t help but feel a bit offended by Sir Simon… there always was a huge glass of wheat beer for him backstage at the Philharmonie….😀
@@SusanneHochmann Well, Bavaria has very good wheat beer, including Erdinger, but I think the reason for his leaving the Berlin Phil is to lead a less stressful life.
Last year I went to my first classical concert. It was amazing. The conductor was Pietari Inkinen and on the violin solist was Pinchas Zukerman.
They played Sibelius Finlandia, then Max Bruch Violin concert in g-minor op 26 and after that ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Sinfonie No. 8 G-Dur op. 88.
Everything was so beautiful it made me cry. Sadly it wasn't recorded, so I couldn't buy it afterwards (I tried to buy it XD).
Would be intereting if you would try following Pietari Inkinen.
Btw amazing video. ^^ I play piano but I got to appreciate violin more through your videos and you inspired me to start playing again. ♥
In the '90s, I was lucky enough to attend nearly all of Sir Simon Rattle's concerts (as well as talks, meets and greets etc) when he was Director of the BSO,. You could tell that the orchestra loved and respected him.
Still the best I've ever seen live*... both at engaging the audience (choosing interesting programmes/interacting/being playful) and being clear in his musical vision. The fact that TwoSet could follow him well and Brett felt 'safe' is testament to his skills.
*Disclaimer: I never got to see von Karajan or Ozawa :)
How very different all these conductors are. It always brings to question how much of the conducting is for the audience and how much for the orchestra. There is always a great deal of theater involved. If you saw Bernstein in rehearsal, he usually just sat on a stool often with little more than marking the tempo--quite different from his live performances which are always highly animated. Seeing Simon Rattle in rehearsal, he is quite animated in rehearsal and in performance--check out his outstanding conducting of Britten's "Young Peoples Guide"
what a good idea is this post. I have a hard time appreciating exactly the diff between conductors' quality vs. the orchestra's capabilities
me watching twoset instead of practice: 😃
me too 😂
go practice!
@@chairuwu4903I’m practicing watching TwoSet. 😆
I really liked the format of this video - them playing without the orchestra sound and then us getting to hear the two tracks together.
Great video - funny and informative. TSV video is like a serotonim pill. Very interesting idea as always. I was impressed at how Eddy is so analytical, to find out why they were not able to follow the conductor such as the conductor added an extra beat, there was a video cut, confusing hand movement , following the tipany etc.
The latency was hard to avoid, but I enjoyed this. more explanation about what you're looking for for us noobs would be nice :-) love you guys, as always.
I think i need to watch this video 3x. 1x to watch Twoset playing, 1x to watch them playing with the video, and 1x to watch their reactions to the playing. Brett looking extremely cute in this video 😊
I really admire the pure love you have for musicianship, and could hear the wistfulness in the desire to get back to orchestral playing.
This was such a cool concept!!!! And I love how it was with such an explosive piece too!!!
Adam Fisher is one of the finest conductors I have ever seen. His gestures are unequivocal and his musical imagination is crystal clear.
You're only a real conductor when you make people cry from how much you move.
This was a great one. I have played under a lot of different conductors for Beethoven 5 and I have seen quite a few of those conducting styles.
Good job Two Set 🎶🎶🎶
For your 5M symphony concert, TwoSet, who do you want to conduct you?
Ling Ling ofc 😂
@@Hannah-CatLady 🤣❤
LO those many years ago when I was playing in both concert bands and in the orchestra while in my undergrad years and before, the real key, for me, to be a great conductor is that the downbeat is always, always, always in the same spot. I love it when someone cues entrances on particularly difficult pieces, but as long as I can see where the downbeat is I'm golden. I can then play, glance up, and know that "one" will be where it always has been. If they get too dramatic with the flourishes and lose the one (none of them do, it just may seem that way) then I'm going to feel at sea. Great video guys.
I love this 🥰 I played in a concert on bass recently and there were several times that we could have used clear direction (and the tempo lowered by about 5bpm) especially on some final rall.notes in a bridge section to cement in the new key sig 🥺.
A thought for an episode- have tuba/basses/percussion on and discuss the role of their instruments as the ‘engine room’ of the ensemble.
That was fun! So many more conductors to try: Solti, Reiner, Ormandy, etc.
I had a conductor who used different fingers to cue different sections. The best was she cued the timps by fluttering her tongue. She also had a straight drop one without fail. She was so easy to follow.
5 mil, TH-cam symphony at Hollywood Bowl! (with Dudamel conducting!) let’s go!
This is great. Conductors need to take more accountability and I honestly feel like I’m playing to my fullest potential when there’s someone that knows what they’re doing. Thanks for this entertaining video 😅
woow that would be legit to make a youtube symphony amazing idea cant wait for it
There is a delay built into TH-cam recordings. If you watch and listen closely to any recording with a conductor, the audio will always be very slightly off from the video. So your attempts will always be slightly off if you only watch.
"Carnegie is too small... ... ...We'll do it in space!"
Fun video! I like the idea of delving into the qualities that make a conductor great, or even just what exactly does a conductor do! Here I think the lesson is "conduct" in the most basic sense: leadership. The conductor sets up not only the tempo, but signals what kind of energy is desired from the ensemble. Let's have more of this!
omg guys i discovered your channel like couple of days ago and been binging all videos. love your content, please keep going ❤
Welcome! You have lots and lots of videos going through. Hope you learn about LingLing and Editor-san quickly. It helps understanding the jokes.
@@xandraxandra1437 thank u so much! this community is so kind, welcoming and talented. i already know who editor-san is, she is sooo cool and funny, it is such a dream to be friends with her 😍 i think i watched ~80 videos on this channel + some interviews/q&a/etc. and pressed "like" button on more than 50 of them so i can rewatch them later. brett and eddy have such strong bond and chemistry: i will never get bored of them. sorry for my english 🫡
Thank you guys for presenting what it’s like to be in an orchestra. Love this video
Now... you've got 80 hrs of daily practice time ahead of you:
1. Individual Practice - 40 hrs
2. Orchestral Skills Practice - 40 hrs
I feel like it's more a video demonstrating the importance of rearsing no matter how bad the conductor is, the orchestra will always adapt
Staying up late is always worth it fr!! (Gotta get that 40 hour practice streak)
I was impressed by how close to the orchestra most of these were. I've played along with orchestral TH-cam videos before, and no matter how good the conductor is, it's always harder to follow the conductor on a screen than in person.
HI GUYS ITS QUITE IRRELEVANT TO THIS VID BUT!
two set violin finally moved from 4.31mil to 4.32!! So happy for you guys❤️❤️🥳🥳
Great video! As a mediocre trumpet player, I have played many off-stage "banda" parts. In such a case, we have to watch the conductor on a TV screen. It is SO hard. Also, our pitch goes flat and everyone tells us we are late, no matter how much we try to anticpate.
Seeing you guys struggle with following a conductor on a video screen was strangely inspiring.
You guys should totally checkout the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s Ammodo Conducting Masterclass!!!!! This year’s session starts on June 24th, with Paavo Järvi mentoring.
Thank you so much for this amazing education on conducting! We play with Cleveland Classical Guitar Orchestra, and I just realized how much we should be very appreciative and respectful for our music conductor!
Under 20 mins!!
Keep up the good content twoset!!🤩🤩
Whoa, I was already somewhat amazed by Simon Rattle when Karajan came along with his intense left hand gesture killing this score completely! :O what an impressive madman!
I always love your conducting focused videos! Love this
It’s so fascinating how much conductors really delve into showmanship when they are on the podium performance day! They clearly have enough trust in the musicians to carry on as rehearsed-but it’s interesting how much it can muddy the direction they had with the orchestra in rehearsals (most likely anyway-I’ve seen some conductors who are sort of just there 😂)
Thanks for sharing TwoSet!