what makes conductors good?

Every time we have a guest conductor, I’m always amazed at how differently each of them handles their role on the podium in rehearsals, and how different the results can be.  This week we’ve been working with the Austrian conductor Christoph Campestrini.  He’s conducted here once before (though I cannot remember the repertoire) and he’s a particularly interesting example of the differing approaches of conductors.

Christoph Campestrini – Photo: Oregon Symphony

Christoph is not a “needy” conductor.  He doesn’t demand results instantly (in most cases).  When we were beginning rehearsals on the Rachmaninoff Third Symphony, which had never been performed by our orchestra, he just ran the entire piece to start off the rehearsal.  He let us get our feet wet (and almost drown a couple of times!) and get an overview of how he saw the piece.  He doesn’t lead like a steel bar: unyielding and insistent, but like a green sapling: unbreakable but with steady pressure.  This has worked well in the Rachmaninoff, which functions best with supple phrasing and without sharp corners.  In Kernis’ Too Hot Toccata, it is slightly less successful, with all of its angularities and demand for pinpoint precision and execution, but that has been steadily improving day by day as well.

The impact on the sound of the orchestra has been rather dramatic as well.  The strings seem to have a more relaxed, open sound, even in the loudest passages, and the brass have a less bright, more dark, burnished sound.  I can’t tell you how this happens, except that it’s a reaction to the nature of the gestures that we see, and to the way that phrases are allowed to unfold.  We’re less tight, even in repertoire that is both unfamiliar and difficult.  It’s pretty remarkable – even from the inside – to watch this happen, and to be mystified by it as it happens to one’s self.  I have to say that the leadership of concertmaster Jun Iwasaki has come to full flower this week, as he interprets what the conductor wants and very clearly telegraphs it to the other string principals and section players.

Bill Eddins – Photo: Oregon Symphony

Last week we played the Brahms First Symphony under William Eddins, music director of the Edmonton Symphony.  He got a different sort of string sound, more overtly muscular and dense, with more angular atacks and changes of tempo.  Again, it was all in the gestures.  And it was totally the opposite of how we do Brahms with Carlos – and equally valid.  It’s interesting: whereas some orchestras will play their version of a repertoire piece regardless of who’s on the podium, the OSO seems to just become more chameleon-like — adapting to whatever is asked more and more quickly, and with less of a sense of struggle.  I’ve always enjoyed going to work each day, but it’s starting to get more and more exciting when the orchestra is able to change guises.  It’s like having a new gig every week.