Rodney DeCecco ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>Boult was even more economical of gesture than Reiner.  He also had the
>longest baton in the business.

Check out Franz Konwitschny, whose baton also looked about 3 foot long.

I have to say that my friend insists that Reiner's beat was so small as
to be virtually undetectable; there is apparently a famous story about a
bass player with the CSO who had come into money (and therefore didn't care
about his job) pulling out a pocket telescope to observe Reiner's beat
(opera singers also compalined a lot about it).  The bass player was fired
BTW.

Boult's beat, OTOH, which I did witness for myself, was a model of
clarity.

Deryk Barker
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