Longevity of Conductors

[Ariosto]

The best conductor I knew of lived over 100 years and spent its lifetime on top of a church ... (Sorry!!)

[Pabmusic]

The best conductor I knew of lived over 100 years and spent its lifetime on top of a church ... (Sorry!!)

Was that the one whose technique was notably (how shall I say it?)...quick?

[Beef Oven!]

Was that the one whose technique was notably (how shall I say it?)...quick?

But down to earth......

[edashtav]

When our aged aspiring conductor on Buckingham's Parish Church was examined for competence a few years ago, it was found that he'd never connected with the groundlings below. So, that conductor only took charge from a really advanced age.

[teamsaint]

Slightly (or very) OT, am I imagining the proportion of conductors suffering from short man syndrome? (Which may be related to their oengevity - are there any studies on this?) HvK, Bernstein leap to mind.

SMS is offensive made up crap. I am sick to death of hearing about the supposed effects of shortness on peoples behaviour, instead of real discussion about actual motivations .

for Reference : Katie Derham's stupid comments about Ravel, a nonsense remark about Stravinsky's height (he was only 5ft 3 but a giant among composers apparently)on the BBC 4 programme on Friday night, and so on.

People, short medium or tall just get on with stuff. But really this kind of thing gets right up my nose. I am fairly short, and I don't it give a moments thought until somebody says something stupid about shortness. And then it REALLY pisses me off.

If you really have an issue with people with Napoleon complexes, SMS, or whatever , get it out in the open with a thread of its own, and we can all add our own prejudices, (there are plenty to choose from) to the list.

Thanks.

TS (not SMS).

[Bryn]

The best conductor I knew of lived over 100 years and spent its lifetime on top of a church ... (Sorry!!)

Reminds me of a group of 'team builders' on an 'I spy' excercise around Windsor. One of their tasks was to get a photograph of themselves on an open-top bus outside the castle, and to include the conductor. Since those buses did not have a conductor the poor dears were a bit flummoxed, until, that is, I pointed out the long strip of copper leading to the pinnacle of tower-like affair at the end of the Heart and Garter Hotel (just across the road from the relevant bus stop). Sadly, if the same task is set in the future, there will be more of a problem. When the hotel changed hands a few years ago the external copper strip of the lightning conductor was removed as part of the associated refurbishment.

[Karafan]

Perhaps a little far-fetched, since there have been several notably tall conductors - Furtwängler, Strauss, Boult and Norman del Mar come to mind. But then, so do Ashkenazy and Previn...

While on the subject, I recall Solti, in his characteristic way, describing Feliz Weingartner as "an enoooorrrrrrmous fellow, a great lofty Prussian artistocrat"!

Karajan of course, famously had himself wired up to ECG monitors etc to test his stress levels (and used a recording and actually conducting the 'lethal' Tristan as the test) and found that his stress/heart rates mirrored one another whether he was conducting or merely listening to the playback....

[PJPJ]

Have any conductors succumbed to dementia or Alzheimers for instance? (No jokes please).

I think it's worth serious medical study.

Aaron Copland did a fair bit of conducting among other things and did succumb to dementia though it seems to have begun in his 80s.

"Keep the brain active", they say - I know of very bright active people who have contracted Alzheimer's at a relatively young age, Bernard Levin for example. Maureen Forrester lived with dementia for quite some time until here death a few years ago.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Frau was worried that I might be showing the early signs of dementia (I've a dreadful memory), and we arranged for me to have some tests. I achieved 30/30 and the doctor said there were no signs of dementia. His remedy for staving it off was to be physically active -swimming, running, walking, etc. Alfred Wainwright said the same.

[cloughie]

Frau was worried that I might be showing the early signs of dementia (I've a dreadful memory), and we arranged for me to have some tests. I achieved 30/30 and the doctor said there were no signs of dementia. His remedy for staving it off was to be physically active -swimming, running, walking, etc. Alfred Wainwright said the same.

Does she also suggest you have selective hearing?

[Serial_Apologist]

Then there's the one about the conductor who strangles one of his players when he repeats the same mistake at rehearsal, is arrested, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to the electric chair (this being America). Come the day of execution, he is asked if he has any last request. "Bring me a banana", he says. They bring him a banana, which he skins, then eats, putting the skin in his pocket. They then strap him into the electric chair. The button is pressed, and.... nothing happens. So, under the law, he has to serve time in jail. On release, asked for an explanation as to how he had managed to escape death, he says: "It's quite simple; you see, I'm a bad conductor".

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Then there's the one about the conductor who strangles one of his players when he repeats the same mistake at rehearsal, is arrested, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to the electric chair (this being America). Come the day of execution, he is asked if he has any last request. "Bring me a banana", he says. They bring him a banana, which he skins, then eats, putting the skin in his pocket. They then strap him into the electric chair. The button is pressed, and.... nothing happens. So, under the law, he has to serve time in jail. On release, asked for an explanation as to how he had managed to escape death, he says: "It's quite simple; you see, I'm a bad conductor".

I've heard a similar (shaggy dog story) joke, but it involved a bus conductor pushing his passenger off his bus to their deaths. Much more British.

[richardfinegold]

SMS is offensive made up crap. I am sick to death of hearing about the supposed effects of shortness on peoples behaviour, instead of real discussion about actual motivations .

for Reference : Katie Derham's stupid comments about Ravel, a nonsense remark about Stravinsky's height (he was only 5ft 3 but a giant among composers apparently)on the BBC 4 programme on Friday night, and so on.

People, short medium or tall just get on with stuff. But really this kind of thing gets right up my nose. I am fairly short, and I don't it give a moments thought until somebody says something stupid about shortness. And then it REALLY pisses me off.

If you really have an issue with people with Napoleon complexes, SMS, or whatever , get it out in the open with a thread of its own, and we can all add our own prejudices, (there are plenty to choose from) to the list.

Thanks.

TS (not SMS).

TS: Just out of idle curiosity, how tall are you?

[teamsaint]

TS: Just out of idle curiosity, how tall are you?

ABout 5 ft 4 or 5 since you ask. I did say, " Fairly short".

What has that got to do with anything other than whether I can see when promming?

[richardfinegold]

ABout 5 ft 4 or 5 since you ask. I did say, " Fairly short".

What has that got to do with anything other than whether I can see when promming?

Sorry TS, I had missed your self reference in your post about being "fairly short". I'm 6' 4. Frankly, I would trade places with you at almost any Concert Hall. Sitting through a Mahler or Bruckner Symphony usually leaves me numb in the legs, regardless of what the music may be doing to my heart and brain.
(My wife is 5 2 with heels. Our friends refer to us as Mutt and Jeff).

Regarding Conductors, it is probably easier to recall the short ones and ascribe a "Short Man's Syndrome" to them because they happened to be both autocratic and short. The only tall Prominent Conductors that I can think of offhand were Furtwangler and Knappersbusch, although Kna stooped quite a bit.