| Chapter 1: | Conducting in Theory and Practice |
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I prefer, therefore, to allow the modern practice of classical music to remain imperfect or essentially limited both in its ground and in its expressions of that ground, precisely because this space or gap for antagonistic imperfection serves as an indispensable condition for its critical functioning.34
The Conductor/Ensemble Relationship
How does the relationship between the conductor and the ensemble he/she is conducting factor into interpretation and performance? To what extent is the interaction between conductor and ensemble collaborative? Is there any merit to the notion that a student/teacher paradigm exists between ensemble and conductor?
In Professional Settings
Isaac Stern suggests that the conductor must hold a position of complete musical authority over the orchestra:
He has to know exactly what he is doing, from the point of view of the composer, first of all, and to be in complete command of the forces he has in front of him. He has to convince the men and woman who are playing in the orchestra that if there are six, seven, eight, or eighty, ninety or a hundred and fifty, he knows more than all of them put together. And all the while he keeps an absolutely firm hand, an autocratically firm hand that what comes out is something that he is listening to in his head just before it’s happening and with his ears he is listening to whether it’s actually happening the way he wants.35
The notion of authority in the conductor/ensemble relationship requires defining. Historically, the conductor’s authority stems not least from his/her glorification through commercial recording.