Rude conductors

[Lento]

An article in the Spectator raises this topic:

http://www.spectator.co.uk/arts/music/9174471/is-it-possible-to-be-a-real-artist-and-a-nice-person/

Does anyone have a view, or, even better, a juicy anecdote that they feel able to share? (I mean generally, not meaning to start a thread on one particular individual).

[Ariosto]

An article in the Spectator raises this topic:

http://www.spectator.co.uk/arts/music/9174471/is-it-possible-to-be-a-real-artist-and-a-nice-person/

Does anyone have a view, or, even better, a juicy anecdote that they feel able to share? (I mean generally, not meaning to start a thread on one particular individual).

No such thing, they are all lovely ...

[Ariosto]

HOW DARE you even suggest it ...

[Black Swan]

I personally have no direct experience. There have always been stories but much prefer to appreciate the music the conductors have produced.

[Don Petter]

Does anyone have a view, or, even better, a juicy anecdote that they feel able to share? (I mean generally, not meaning to start a thread on one particular individual).

Hmm. So that would need rather a rare thing - several conductors gathered together. (Perhaps more of a short story? )

[Lento]

No such thing, they are all lovely ...

Of course they are! Nevertheless....

[Serial_Apologist]

I always liked the joke about the American conductor sentanced to the electric chair for serially murdering musicians at orchestral rehearsals for making mistakes.

[pastoralguy]

I always liked the joke about the American conductor sentanced to the electric chair for serially murdering musicians at orchestral rehearsals for making mistakes.

This sounds like a variation on the conductor who is sentenced to the electric chair for murdering his concertmaster. The conductor is strapped in, asked if he has any last words and then the current is turned on. 10,000 volts are sent through his body. Nothing happens. The conductor smiles. 25,000 volts are then sent pulsating into the chair. Still no adverse effect. Finally, the voltage is increased to the maximum. 100,000 volts of electricity are sent through the equipment. Lights explode, doors fly open and howls are heard throughout the prison. The conductor simply smiles again.

The head electrician is sent for. "The equipment is fine but this man is obviously a non-conductor".

[Petrushka]

Bernard Haitink once said: 'To do this job, you have to be a bit of a bastard'. Karajan once said 'Should we have a vote on it, every time I want to change the tempo?' or words to that effect (I can't find the exact reference at the moment). The conductor has to persuade 100 other men and women that his/her interpretation of great masterpieces is right. It's no good being a delicate flower if you have to do that.

On the other hand, the days of the tyrannical conductor (I'm sure some can come up wit some genuine Solti stories for example) were numbered long ago and it's more of a collaborative effort these days.

[Serial_Apologist]

Bernard Haitink once said: 'To do this job, you have to be a bit of a bastard'. Karajan once said 'Should we have a vote on it, every time I want to change the tempo?' or words to that effect (I can't find the exact reference at the moment.

Which was more-or-less the situation Prokofiev found when he visited one city in the Soviet Union in the early 1920s - it might have been Leningrad. The orchestra had dispensed with having a conductor, viewing such a position as unworthy of worker's democracy. Prokofiev said words to the effect that rehearsals took longer in consequence, and that accelerandi and rallentandi presented the biggest problems for togetherness, but that things worked out in the end!

[Black Swan]

I think historically several great conductors were considered to be difficult.
Solti
Szell, many stories of him while at Cleveland
Toscanini
Karajan

But as said previously things were different then. I believe now performance is a more collaborative effort.

[pastoralguy]

There was a principal player in one of the Orchestras that Solti was associated with who hated him with a passion. After the player had heard the news announcing his death, he 'phoned Solti's agent and spoke to an assistant. "Good morning. I would like, if possible, to make an appointment to speak to Sir Georg Solti". "I'm very sorry to have to tell you that Sir Georg passed away last night" replied the assistant. "Thank you very much for telling me" said the player and replaced the 'phone.

An hour later, the player once again called the agents office and spoke to the same assistant and this time asked if he could leave a message for Sir Georg. "I'm sorry to have to tell you that a Sir Georg died last night " informed the assistant. "Many thanks for letting me know" said the player.

An hour later, he telephoned the agent for a third time and spoke to the same assistant. "It's of tremendous importance that I make contact with Sir Georg Solti" said the player. "Are you the same gentleman who has 'phoned twice before?" asks the assistance. "Yes, I am". "Well", the assistant says "I"m afraid Sir Georg is still dead". "I know my dear but, you know, I never get tired of hearing you say it "

It was a player in the ROH who told me that story.

[Serial_Apologist]

This sounds like a variation on the conductor who is sentenced to the electric chair for murdering his concertmaster. The conductor is strapped in, asked if he has any last words and then the current is turned on. 10,000 volts are sent through his body. Nothing happens. The conductor smiles. 25,000 volts are then sent pulsating into the chair. Still no adverse effect. Finally, the voltage is increased to the maximum. 100,000 volts of electricity are sent through the equipment. Lights explode, doors fly open and howls are heard throughout the prison. The conductor simply smiles again.

The head electrician is sent for. "The equipment is fine but this man is obviously a non-conductor".

That's more-or-less the one I had in mind, except that in the version of the story I heard, each time he is about to be executed the conductor asks for a banana as a last request, which he proceeds to peel and eat, putting the banana skin in his pocket. The electricity then has no effect, leading the audience to assume that the banana has something to do with it. For the shaggy dog effect, it is important in telling the story to really drag it out. Eventually, after several murders of this kind, spells in jail, moves to take up positions in other states, and an audience on the edge of their seats in anticipation, when asked to explain this extraordinary phenomenon, the man says, "Well, it's simple, really; you see, I'm a bad conductor".

[Serial_Apologist]

There was a principal player in one of the Orchestras that Solti was associated with who hated him with a passion. After the player had heard the news announcing his death, he 'phoned Solti's agent and spoke to an assistant. "Good morning. I would like, if possible, to make an appointment to speak to Sir Georg Solti". "I'm very sorry to have to tell you that Sir Georg passed away last night" replied the assistant. "Thank you very much for telling me" said the player and replaced the 'phone.

An hour later, the player once again called the agents office and spoke to the same assistant and this time asked if he could leave a message for Sir Georg. "I'm sorry to have to tell you that a Sir Georg died last night " informed the assistant. "Many thanks for letting me know" said the player.

An hour later, he telephoned the agent for a third time and spoke to the same assistant. "It's of tremendous importance that I make contact with Sir Georg Solti" said the player. "Are you the same gentleman who has 'phoned twice before?" asks the assistance. "Yes, I am". "Well", the assistant says "I"m afraid Sir Georg is still dead". "I know my dear but, you know, I never get tired of hearing you say it "

It was a player in the ROH who told me that story.

[VodkaDilc]

I think historically several great conductors were considered to be difficult.
Solti
Szell, many stories of him while at Cleveland
Toscanini
Karajan

But as said previously things were different then. I believe now performance is a more collaborative effort.

Didn't Reiner also have a similar reputation? - and Boult, despite his benign appearance?