Ron Chaplin asks:

>I was wondering if any list members would care to comment on gymnastic
>conductors they've seen.  Thanks, as always.

Yes indeed.  As a conductor myself, I must say that the gymnasts are about
as annoying as an out of tune oboe.  Andrew Litton is notorious for the
amount of hang time he gets in a concert, and I cannot see where is serves
the music at all.

I believe that the most effective conductors are the most efficient
ones.  Just recently, I saw Wolfgang Sawallisch conduct the Philidelphia
Orchestra.  It was absolutely amazing to observe the musical result of such
economy of motion.  It was breath-taking.

Those conductors who hop and dance and carry on are doing so simply to
attract attention to themselves.  It's distracting and unclear to the
musicians, and tiresome from an audience perspective.  As a younger man,
I did all that stuff too, until I watched a video tape of myself and
realized how stupid I looked up there gesticulating like a wounded octopus.

Other calm and effective conductors that come to mind are Lorin Maazel and
Claus Peter Flor, both of whom achieve fabulous performances with clear
concise and non-acrobatic podium antics.

Kevin Sutton
Artistic Director and Conductor
The Helios Ensemble