part 2 (3rd and 4th movements) is here.

maybe this is the berlin philharmonic? they sound incredibly good.

the film is by the french director, Henri George Clouzot.

i never completely understood what the conductor does. i always thought that it was just an added facet for the audience, because you would think that the musicians playing would already know the piece, and what kind of inflection to bring on the piece.

The conductor is the timing mechanism of the orchestra, he sets the tempo, executes clear preparations and beats, listens and shapes the sound of the ensemble. However this has changed over with Robert Wagner who was largely responsible for shaping the conductor's role as one who imposes his own view of a piece onto the performance rather than one who is simply responsible for ensuring entries are made at the right time and that there is a unified beat, thus elevating the profession, I mean look PlastiqueMonkey calls out Karajan not the Orchestra

karajan knows he's the star, and so does the film director.

i would add the orchestra to the title if there wasn't the 60-character limit...

this reminds me of Helmut Walcha, the brilliant pipe-organist, who memorized and performed all of Bach. he was blind, of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Walcha

I've always had the personal opinion that conducting is of background necessity. It is definitely not the forefront in such a performance, as it too often is regarded. A human metronome with a dynamics meter built in, and a single mind to loosely interpret based on mood or experience (influence). The musicians here certainly *do* know the piece, and their months and years of practice together are more of a melding experience than is barely paying attention to someone flailing their arms about.

Memorization is part of being a performer, so I've never been impressed on that side of conducting either. The real performers here are seated, and they sound incredible.

Musicians don't just walk onto a stage the day of a performance and play a piece perfectly and in sync with the rest of the performers. Saying a conductor is unnecessary is like saying football coach is unnecessary because the players do all of the work on the field.

Viewer_999

Even tho I know very little about classical music and orchestras, I'm pretty damn sure the conductor is vital to an orchestra, remember, they dont have a drummer, like a rockband does to keep the constant rhythm (which is simple in a rockbands case, but complex in a symphony) besides, theres alot more people, and more instruments, and several people with the same instruments. So even tho each of these people are probably masters of their own, its important with a coordinator, like someone said, any footballer, soccer player etc, even the best ones, are nothing without the teamwork, and the coach is handling that.

Also, I know that people who do know a thing or two about classical music, can actually hear who the conductor is, just like we mortals can hear the difference between vocalists.

I don't suggest they're not important; the intended sentiment was that it is of background necessity, relative to the performing musicians. I don't debate that the role serves a purpose. I just don't ascribe to it being the front-runner, taking the accolades and roses and bows.

Even with just a small bit of personal experience on the subject (during childhood), I just don't see the mystique in the role. Then again perhaps that personal experience is precisely why.

Smart conductors know to thank their orchestra's... I never really knew of any diva conductors but am sure they are out there...

You do need a conductor. All the musicians have are the notes, the conductor is the one who adds it all together. He´s similar to the director of a movie. Every conductor has his own style, every piece sounds different from conductor to conductor. One musician might find it better to play a part more softly, the other might find it right to play it faster etc. The conductor is the mastermind of every orchestra, without him it would just be a mess because everybody would play the notes his or her own way. Remember people this is not electronic music, the notes just give an idea, they are not absolute. Every time a piece is played it is an interpretation.

Phew, one might say i´m quite a fan ;-)

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Conductors are a relatively modern creation. Up until Beethoven or so, orchestras did not have a conductor. They were lead by the first chair violin, referred to as the concertmaster or leader.

Many ensembles that follow historically-informed performance practice (e.g. Concerto Köln, Akademie für Alte Musik, and the Academy of Ancient Music) generally do not play under a conductor until they get into Haydn or Beethoven or Mozart. There are some HIP ensembles, however, that always have a conductor, like the King's Consort.

There are also some modern chamber orchestras that do not play with a conductor. The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has never had a conductor, for example.

BTW, Karajan almost always conducted with his eyes closed. He wasn't especially skilled or showing off, it's just one of his many peculiarities.

This might be a silly question, but why would he need his eyes open anyway?

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