Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- PART ONE The Conductor's Mind
- PART TWO The Conductor's Skills
- PART THREE The Conductor's Hands
- PART FOUR The Conductor and the Musicians
- PART FIVE The Conductor and the Instruments
- PART SIX The Conductor, the Composer, and the Score
- PART SEVEN The Conductor and the Audience
- PART EIGHT The Conductor and “the Business”
- 39 Career and Agents
- 40 Critics
- 41 Gender
- 42 Guest Conducting
- 43 Orchestra Managements
- 44 Recording
- 45 Travel and Packing
- PART NINE Inside the Conductor
- Suggested Reading
- Musical Example Credits
- A Note on the Illustrations
- Index of Conductors
44 - Recording
from PART EIGHT - The Conductor and “the Business”
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2013
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- PART ONE The Conductor's Mind
- PART TWO The Conductor's Skills
- PART THREE The Conductor's Hands
- PART FOUR The Conductor and the Musicians
- PART FIVE The Conductor and the Instruments
- PART SIX The Conductor, the Composer, and the Score
- PART SEVEN The Conductor and the Audience
- PART EIGHT The Conductor and “the Business”
- 39 Career and Agents
- 40 Critics
- 41 Gender
- 42 Guest Conducting
- 43 Orchestra Managements
- 44 Recording
- 45 Travel and Packing
- PART NINE Inside the Conductor
- Suggested Reading
- Musical Example Credits
- A Note on the Illustrations
- Index of Conductors
Summary
During my time in the London Philharmonic, we recorded Strauss waltzes with Antal Dorati. All went well until Dorati decided to leave out a repeat: he asked us to play a fortissimo section once only, then go on to a quiet section. The bass drum player on my right (nicknamed “the Mortician's Mate” because he had a face like a coffin) didn't hear the conductor's instruction. At the first take he repeated the fortissimo section with a resounding boom. Dorati went berserk. He screamed, stamped his foot, and stormed out. The concertmaster followed him, calmed him down, and eventually led him back. We tried another take, and everything went well. Dorati thanked us profusely and told us what a wonderful orchestra we were. The first flute, Richard Adeney, stood up and said, “Mr. Dorati, I played a wrong note in that take. Would you please stamp your foot and walk out again?”
Recording is good for a conductor's career because it makes him well-known; orchestras like to engage well-known conductors because they attract audiences.
At a recording session, time is of the essence. You have to record the first take within an hour, even with an unfamiliar orchestra, and listen to it during the coffee break. Although many good recordings have been done this way, it's not an ideal system. Making a recording after performing the music in concerts is better, because it will be thoroughly rehearsed and “played in.” But the best way of all is to record actual concerts, followed by a “patching” session.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Inside Conducting , pp. 225 - 227Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013