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