Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- PART ONE The Conductor's Mind
- PART TWO The Conductor's Skills
- 7 Balance
- 8 Choral Works
- 9 Concerto Accompaniment
- 10 Ear
- 11 Eye Contact
- 12 Opera
- 13 Rehearsing
- 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”
- PART NINE Inside the Conductor
- Suggested Reading
- Musical Example Credits
- A Note on the Illustrations
- Index of Conductors
9 - Concerto Accompaniment
from PART TWO - The Conductor's Skills
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
- 7 Balance
- 8 Choral Works
- 9 Concerto Accompaniment
- 10 Ear
- 11 Eye Contact
- 12 Opera
- 13 Rehearsing
- 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”
- PART NINE Inside the Conductor
- Suggested Reading
- Musical Example Credits
- A Note on the Illustrations
- Index of Conductors
Summary
Manoug Parikian, the London concertmaster, told me about a recording the Philharmonia Orchestra made with the legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz, conducted by Malcolm Sargent. The orchestra had never heard violin playing like it. Afterward, Parikian went up to Sargent and said, “Oh, Sir Malcolm, wasn't that a wonderful experience?” “Thank you, Mr. Parikian,” replied Sargent.
I'm often asked who's in charge during a concerto, the soloist or the conductor. As a general rule, when a soloist has the tune or the main feature, he takes the lead and the conductor accompanies; when the orchestra has the tune, the soloist follows the orchestra. When they bothhave the tune, they work together as a team. A conductor needs to be sensitive to soloists' various needs: some like to be conducted, while others close their eyes and expect you to keep the orchestra with them. The pianist Andre Tchaikowsky told me he never looked at conductors because he couldn't understand what any of them were doing.
To accompany concertos well, a conductor needs a number of skills. First is the ability to sense in advance what a soloist is going to do, a skill similar to playing chamber music. You need a good ear for details and nuances in the solo part, which you have to memorize. If you're reading it, you won't follow it well, and you won't have enough eye contact with the soloist.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Inside Conducting , pp. 35 - 40Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013