Robert Baldwin wrote:

>Are there other memorable conducting incidents anyone knows of?

For some reason I missed this thread until now, so some of these may have
already been mentioned...

Victor Allesandro stabbed his hand with his baton during a performance.

Mitropoulos had a heart attack while rehearsing Mahler.

Bernstein fell off the podium once...as I recall it was late in his life.

In the baroque period, conductors would beat time by tapping a wood pole on
the floor.  My memory is foggy here, but I believe Lully hit his foot while
conducting and died from the infection.

And then the pianists...

Gunnar Johannson (sp?) had a heart attack in the middle of playing the
Rachmaninoff 4th Concerto (1927 version...just in case there are any
musicologists out there).  I have a tape!  He didn't miss a beat...of the
music.

Karl