[Computerpro3]

I am in the fortunate position of being a music student in Cincinnati, and it is even more fortunate that our school works very closely with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops, one of the better orchestras out there. Due to this, I have gotten the opportunity to get to know both Paavo Jarvi and Eric Kunzel somewhat, as well as to get a look at what happens both behind the scenes and during the concerts (student tickets $10! We go almost every performance..)

The conductor really what can make or break a performance of a professional orchestra. The CSO is so good that they can play the vast majority of standard repretoire with barely any rehersals (one or two is not uncommon). With an orchestra like this, the conductor is incredibly important.

There was a night maybe two months ago when I went to see Rachmaninoff's Second Concerto performed. Now this is obviously a staple of concerto rep - every major orchestra has performed it countless times. A guest conductor was supposed to conduct it, but he could not make it and Paavo was not available. Therefore, the assistant conductor of the CSO conducted the program. Now he is a very capable conductor, but he is just not at the level of Paavo (he is talented, but very young). Ordinarily this would not have mattered that much, but the piano soloist had a VERY unorthodox interpretation of the concerto - not a bad thing, but it was very different. The conductor and the soloist just never had it together, and you had the orchestra and soloist climaxing at different times, striking chords not in unison, and the tempo fluctuated way too much.

If Paavo had been conducting, who in my opinion (and many others) is one of the better living conductors out there right now, due to his experience and talent he most likely would have been able to make the soloist and orchestra work together as a cohesive whole and turn it into something else entirely.

Someone mentioned earlier that in an ideal situation the orchestra is simply an instrument for a conductor. That is pretty much spot on. Of course, the ideal world sometimes isn't realized, but I have heard the same symphonies - world famous ones like Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, NY, etc - sound completely, completely different just with different conductors. If the orchestra is good enough to make this happen, and the conductor is skilled at drawing out the interpretation he wishes, you have the chance to be in for a special performance.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, the idea that the conductor only matters in rehersal and not in the performance could not be further from the truth. Keep in mind, sometimes there is only one or two rehersals! I have heard performances sound totally different from the last rehersal and the performance because the conductor had a new idea right before the performance. And as for reading music and watching the conductor at the same time, keep in mind that pianists almost always memorize their concertos, and that the orchestra members usually know the music like the back of their hand anyway by the time they are good enough to get a seat in a major orchestra, so taking your eyes off of the music for a few seconds is not a big deal.