Walter Meyer wrote:

>This has fascinated me.  Apparently the best conductors can get superb
>performances from otherwise obscure orchestras and, conversely, an
>orchestra of international reputation can fall flat from poor conducting.

If you watch the film "The Gift of Music - An Intimate Portrait of
Leonard Bernstein" (DG 440 073 200-3) you will see Lenny giving lessons on
conducting.  There is an amazing moment of the film, when a young conductor
raises his baton and then...  you can hardly recognize the first bars of
Beethoven's 8th symphony.  Then Lenny stops the orchestra and gives him
 [the young conductor - who is him?] some instructions.  And when he starts
again there is a new and beautiful sound coming from the orchestra -
Beethoven's 8th is easily recognized now!  A real miracle!

Wilson Pereira.