A lot of interesting commentary in the replies. As I understand it now, the conductor does some very important work before the performance, then at the actual show they pretend to be doing something useful. Like a Deadmau5 concert
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In concert the most important role of a conductor is to provide a great source of image references for artists who want to draw wizards using magic wands.
This is what confused me about Maestro - apparently Bernstein got his big break by standing in as a conductor with *no rehearsal* and it was lauded as an incredible performance.
have you ever seen video of an orchestra conducted by somebody who doesn't know how to do it? The Boston Pops is fond of having stunt guest conductors, like Shaq or whatever, and it's fascinating: the orchestra is MOSTLY fine but there's clearly something missing
Yeah. In performance, the conductor's job for the majority of pieces is to make sure everyone starts / stops at the same time. The rest is mostly dancing.
I went to school and everything, and if he waves the stick wrong, they'll all play the wrong note. Magic wands wish they were conductors' batons, because that shit really works.
I played in orchestras for some 10 years, including a touring one. We look at the conductor for beginning, fermata, and major tempo changes. For everything else, we listen to the battery percussion, who tend to check in with the conductor a little more frequently to see if they're angrily gesturing.
Think soccer coach. Lots of important work during training before a game, lots of management work away from the field, and lots of excited but ineffectual gesticulation during the game itself
Totally depends who it is. It’s like a film director or a record producer - different levels of involvement at different stages of the process depending on the person, but ultimately, their vision of the finished product.
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** conductor very important in rehearsals