Thread: Unconventional Conducting

Got any anecdotes or videos about unconventional/funny conducting styles? I was prompted by Olias in another thread who posted this:



And this one makes me laugh, especially 2:31-3:03

Gotta love Bernstein... I've seen other videos where he gets so excited that he looks like a little boy pretending to be a conductor.

Speaking of little boys pretending to be conductors, this is adorable, and not half bad for a kid:


And there's another one I thinking of, also Beethoven 5, where the guy (who is a real conductor is doing something I don't recognize as conducting at all! I am determined to find it. I'll be back.

And my youth orchestra conductor used to do the "Lenny Leap" - like Bernstein, he sometimes ended up a foot above the podium. Another time, at the end of a piece (I forget which!), he clutched the baton with two fists and looked as though he were beating the ground with a baseball bat. He could become quite violent. But I loved him, and he made us play better. We could tell when we were playing beautifully because he looked completely enraptured. One of my orchestramates once said he looked like God was speaking to him, and I thought that was apt. When we saw him with that look on his face, he communicated something that made us want to play even more beautifully - positive feedback loop.

Slightly OT.

I will find the crazy conductor video.

Aha! Found it.

Gulda has a very unconventional style of conducting and performing this piano concerto, as well as unconventional attire. This relaxed looking multitasking is pretty mind blowing.

Strauss conducting, giving hardly any signs of even doing it!

Originally Posted by Meaghan

But I loved him, and he made us play better. We could tell when we were playing beautifully because he looked completely enraptured. One of my orchestramates once said he looked like God was speaking to him, and I thought that was apt. When we saw him with that look on his face, he communicated something that made us want to play even more beautifully - positive feedback loop.
.

A testament to the value of a good conductor indeed.

Originally Posted by Meaghan

Aha! Found it.

That is a very weird start to the fifth, I thought the sound wasn't working! Spasms galore. It obviously means something to that orchestra!

Relevant to this topic, I had a post about Fritz Reiner... here.

Moved to "Conductors & Conducting."

Originally Posted by clavichorder

That is a very weird start to the fifth, I thought the sound wasn't working! Spasms galore. It obviously means something to that orchestra!

On the contrary, I think the orchestra members have secretly agreed just to ignore the conductor - there's no way you can get anything out of those paroxysms!

Adrian Boult and Reiner were adherants to this way of conducting, s
Strauss said that you should never lift your arms above your shoulders. Boult was most worried for Previn when he first observed his stick technique. Furtwangler on the other hand went in the other direction , I used to watch him wandering dazedly around on the podium and wonder when was going to fall off, Dimitri Mitropoulos was of the same ilk--but as you know they communicated their wishes to the orchestra very well. It must not be forgotten that the real hard work is done in rehearsal.

Adrian Boult and Fritz Reiner were adherants to the Strauss method of conducting he said that you should not lift your arms above your shoulders. Boult was most concerned when he first saw Previns's stick technique. Furtwaengler was from the opposite camp, I watched him totter and wander as in a daze around the podium just waiting for him to fall off. Dimitri Mitropoulos was of the same ilk, but it must be remembered that the hard work is actually done at rehearsal also that the orchestras were quite able to work with these two--to say the least.