cosifantuttelebelle t1_j6xn2m2 wrote
What do you think of conductors who go “scoreless”? I am biased by Birgit Nilsson’s opinions in her memoir that conductors who do this are showing off for no reason but vanity, but curious if there might be other reasons conductors do this
sandiegoopera OP t1_j6xpk1l wrote
You are right that many (especially younger conductors) tend to conduct scoreless for reasons that are not entirely authentic. But there are others who literally have a photographic memory and it helps them to be even more immersed in the music. I personally only conduct from memory when I can live up to my own standards and be prepared to write out the pie e by hand knowing what everyone plays. In opera, it’s not recommended as anything can go wrong on stage and throw everything off!
dJe781 t1_j6yma54 wrote
Please forgive my ignorance. What is a score? (I can speculate but it's not ideal)
cosifantuttelebelle t1_j6ymq8g wrote
Hey no worries! Basically a written copy of the music they are playing. Going “scoreless” is a conductor going to the podium without any sheet music. The term “score”, in an opera context for example, is end-to-end, all of the instrumental + vocal parts written out in musical notation.
dJe781 t1_j70srq5 wrote
Thank you!
cosifantuttelebelle t1_j6ymt1r wrote
Basically a book of all the music to be played
ponkyball t1_j70xa9w wrote
There's a really great biography about Toscanini I read that goes into detail about his phenomenal memory. He did use scores but as his eyesight failed later in life he was more dependent on his memory. The link below describes certain situations regarding his memory:
cosifantuttelebelle t1_j71tf5p wrote
Oh cool! Yes, in Nilsson’s biography she explains Toscanini doing this for this reason and then claims it set off a trend for people to do it who didn’t really need to. Thanks for sharing the Toscanini book, I love classical music biographies!
In case anyone’s interested, here’s the excerpt from “La Nilsson - My Life in Opera” in which she discusses it — 10/10 recommend this book, shes very funny and as you can see, doesn’t hold back!:
“It is a kind of status symbol for conductors to conduct without a score. It is said that Toscanini started this fad, but the reason he conducted without score is that his vision was so poor he had to conduct from memory. A concert conducted without a score is admirable but after all, the musicians have their notes right in front of them. In the worst case the conductor can always, as someone put it, follow the orchestra. But when the conductor of an opera has the soloists, chorus (and, in Karajan’s case, telephone and lighting) to control, it is totally irresponsible to conduct from memory. Just being aware that the conductor has no score before him makes the singers nervous and insecure. Singers have a lot to memorize and a Wagner opera is generally four to five hours long. I have lived through several totally unnecessary catastrophes with these “scoreless” exhibitionists. It is extremely difficult artistically to be subjected to this. Just such an incident happened in a Tristan performance with Karajan. After singing in act 1 continually for seventy-eight minutes, and with the intermission not providing sufficient rest, I found myself completely disoriented in act 2. Indeed, I drew a blank and lost any sense of where I was in the music. Karajan noticed my situation immediately, but as he was conducting from memory he was of no help to me. He turned to the first violins and pretended to be very busy with them. The half-asleep prompter was not to be brought around and it seemed to me an eternity until I was back on track, at which point Karajan resumed his normal stance and his usual transcendental air. When the renowned conductor Knappertsbusch was asked why he did not conduct from memory, he answered, “Because I can read music.””
ponkyball t1_j7277iw wrote
Hahaha that description of the Tristan performance is amazing and amusing! I need to check out that bio, thanks! :)
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