We played our first of three concerts in Portland with our emergency replacement conductor, the British conductor Michael Francis, last night, and in spite of the good amount of buzz that his nascent career has gotten up to this point, he was still impressive.
Rather than give a blow-by-blow account of the concert, I’d rather give a basic view of why the musicians that I’ve talked with are really enjoying working with Maestro Francis.
First, he has spent a good amount of time playing in a major orchestra (he played the double bass in the London Symphony Orchestra), and this has given him invaluable insight into how an orchestra works, and what makes orchestras both happy and unhappy. He also, as a player who has spent their playing career in the very back of the string section, understands how important it is for musicians to know what they’re playing with and against, musically, and also how to communicate valuable information that players in the back need to know in order to feel connected to what’s going on elsewhere in the orchestra.
There’s also the softness to his approach with his beat that is paradoxical – he’s able to give a pulse, but at the same time indicate the larger musical line, which in a piece like the Schubert Fifth Symphony, enables music at all tempos to flow – especially problematic 6/8 slow movements. He is also able to do just the right gesture to pull or push the tempo in a very subtle way, without excessive theatrics.
He also has a delightful podium demeanor during rehearsals – very relaxed, but intent upon what he wishes to achieve. You can also sense, especially in performance, Francis adjusting the trajectory of the musical line based upon what the orchestra is giving back to him at the moment.
Also impressive: he arrived knowing the names of everyone in the orchestra, from memory. Yes, really. It took me at least two seasons to know everyone’s name in the orchestra (not that that says much, I am a violist, after all).
Those are just preliminary thoughts, I may weigh in with more as the run goes on. But I can say that I’m enjoying working with Michael Francis very much.
2 replies on “michael francis makes strong debut”
MF sounds swell.
now, the one thing he “needs” to do in order to prestissimo-size his career is to line up a session with the younger muti & abbado’s hair-honcho.
stay AWAY from rattle’s rat’s nest. sir simon is the ONLY one that can get by with electric follicles.
🙂
Well said about the precision/long line paradox, Charles. He also has an uncanny knack for being thoroughly in charge and still letting us feel freely expressive — what orchestra musicians refer to as “letting us play.”