What the Heck is the Conductor Doing Up There?
Two new videos try to explain the magic and mystique of the baton. 

Two recent video releases by TelDec were the subject of an article by Greg Sandow in the Wall Street Journal (Jan. 8, 2003).

"The Art of Conducting: Great Conductors of the Past" and "The Art of Conducting: Legendary Conductors of the Golden Era" are now available on DVD and VHS tape.

In his review, Sandow calls the releases both "stupendous" and "frustrating."  Despite showing the past century's greatest conductors in action, often in rarely seen film footage, he feels the tapes do little to actually explain who these people were.  (Not only questions like "how did they get to be conductors?" and "where did the conduct?" and "what music did each do best?", but sometimes, literally, "who is that guy?")

The tapes do highlight some of the mysteries of how orchestras and conductors learn to work together, while allowing viewers to use repeated viewings to not only contrast Koussevitsky's "spasmodic jerking," Bernstein's "crazy" dancing and twisting, and Strauss' total lack of visible movement, but to uncover the subtleties that create the conductor's "intangible authority."

Sandow tells us that, after watching these videos, we'll be fascinated by these legends but not much closer to understanding what makes them tick, or how they make orchestral magic happen.

Learn more about these videos