Misunderstood/neglected/ignored conductors

[ardcarp]

The job also involved a lot of touring or rather one night stands in places we would rather have not been.

Sutton Coldfield ??!

Thanks for that, Ariosto. Not such a glamorous life then. As a matter of fact I have an ex-CBSO violinist in one of the semi-pro outfits I'm involved with. He (unusually) became a Baptist minister, but he says how much he likes being asked to play on an ad hoc basis, and he really seems to enjoy himself on the back desk of the 1sts.

[Nick Armstrong]

Günther Herbig is not often seen on concert platforms or CDs in UK but he's a conductor whom I rate highly

Ammy's post got slightly lost in the mix. I'd give it a big

I suspect those based in the north had more exposure to his fantastic conducting, thanks to his 30+ year association with the BBC Phil... I only heard him once - an electrifying Mahler 6

Just discovered there's a well-reviewed CD with his German orchestra http://www.musicweb-international.co...er6_Herbig.htm

Judging by radio broadcasts, he is a master at Bruckner and Shostakovich too (I think I heard him conduct a great DSCH 15).

Now working a lot in the far east it seems.

[Ariosto]

Sutton Coldfield ??!

Even worse places ...

As a matter of fact I have an ex-CBSO violinist in one of the semi-pro outfits I'm involved with. He (unusually) became a Baptist minister ...

Spending time in the CBSO can drive one to even worse extremes ...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It would be dismissed by HIPPers now (and perhaps was then) ...

... and?

[antongould]

following the old management services maxim: "...An expert is an average guy brought in from outside".
HS

I've never heard that before HS over many years of having such (non)experts thrust on me. It is, as many people will be aware, very, very true.

[ardcarp]

An expert is an average guy brought in from outside

Yes, we've all seen it.....but equally 'a prophet is without honour in his own land' can be true. Luckily I've been technically self-employed for most of my working life, but looking in from outside at the world of institutions of all sorts, appointments seem to go to people who can shoot a good line; and the job interview seems often a ludicrously inadequate means of selection.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

but looking in from outside at the world of institutions of all sorts, appointments seem to go to people who can shoot a good line; and the job interview seems often a ludicrously inadequate means of selection.

For which some of us are immensely grateful!

[Extended Play]

What about Leslie Jones and the Little Orchestra of London?

[Tony Halstead]

What about Leslie Jones and the Little Orchestra of London?

In the (paraphrased) words of Peter Sellers, 'what about Leslie Jones indeed?'

1) Made lots of LPs of Haydn symphonies, with 'warmer' interpretations than the approximately contemporaneous ones that were being done in Vienna by Max Gobermann with his razor-sharp, somewhat charmless band (the Vienna Phil in disguise?)

2) had a bee in his bonnet about which octave the horns had to play in. Ruthlessly applied a 'rule' that anything in B flat or C had to have the horns screaming away an octave higher than anybody else in the orchestra.
Fortunately his timpanist seems to have been instructed to hit his drums so hard that said horns were rendered mostly inaudible as well as everyone else.

[hmvman]

And I have Leppard's recording of Handel's Ariodante with the ECO and Janet Baker, Edith Mathis, Norma Burrowes, James Bowman et al. It would be dismissed by HIPPers now (and perhaps was then) but I still love it.

I feel the same way about his recording of the Brandenburg Concertos. I return to those LPs again and again!

[Tony Halstead]

his recording of the Brandenburg Concertos

D'you mean the Philips LPs of the 'Brandenburg Harpsichord Concertos' with the English Chamber Orchestra?

[Nick Armstrong]

D'you mean the Philips LPs of the 'Brandenburg Harpsichord Concertos' with the English Chamber Orchestra?

[hmvman]

D'you mean the Philips LPs of the 'Brandenburg Harpsichord Concertos' with the English Chamber Orchestra?

[Hornspieler]

In the (paraphrased) words of Peter Sellers, 'what about Leslie Jones indeed?'

1) Made lots of LPs of Haydn symphonies, with 'warmer' interpretations than the approximately contemporaneous ones that were being done in Vienna by Max Gobermann with his razor-sharp, somewhat charmless band (the Vienna Phil in disguise?)

2) had a bee in his bonnet about which octave the horns had to play in. Ruthlessly applied a 'rule' that anything in B flat or C had to have the horns screaming away an octave higher than anybody else in the orchestra.
Fortunately his timpanist seems to have been instructed to hit his drums so hard that said horns were rendered mostly inaudible as well as everyone else.

Nice to see you back on the boards, Waldhorn and in good form. As I understand it, Alun Francis was originall a horn player who, like yourself studied under Sydney Coulston in Manchester, so possibly you would have met him. Can you enlighten us further about this widely travelled bi-lingual musical interpreter?

HS

[amateur51]

In the (paraphrased) words of Peter Sellers, 'what about Leslie Jones indeed?'

1) Made lots of LPs of Haydn symphonies, with 'warmer' interpretations than the approximately contemporaneous ones that were being done in Vienna by Max Gobermann with his razor-sharp, somewhat charmless band (the Vienna Phil in disguise?)

2) had a bee in his bonnet about which octave the horns had to play in. Ruthlessly applied a 'rule' that anything in B flat or C had to have the horns screaming away an octave higher than anybody else in the orchestra.
Fortunately his timpanist seems to have been instructed to hit his drums so hard that said horns were rendered mostly inaudible as well as everyone else.

Oh bless you, waldhorn, that's the best laugh I've had today