Maestro? Who needs a stinkin' maestro?

[DemoTex]

"I tend to be very narrow minded when playing in an orchestra. I listen to myself, to the people right next to me, to the person behind me, and that's about it unless there's a very obvious cue elsewhere in the orchestra. When there is no conductor, this technique doesn't work - I am forced to listen to everybody in order to participate properly. The effect is that I take a much more holistic view of the music we are playing and the people I am playing with - and it's much more fun!" Jeremy Polmear, oboe

"With smaller groups, the player feels a more valued and a creative contributor if there is no conductor. If the player is given the responsibility to make most of the many judgements per second needed to achieve a unified and 'musical' concert their self-esteem as musicians, as opposed to being mere technicians, is greatly enhanced. As Dr Rached Daoud put it, 'the stifling of creativity in an orchestral player can be seriously injurious to health'." Brian Sewell, bassoon

"You feel naked! Without a conductor, things are definitely more dangerous, more capable of coming unstuck. But at the same time, it's more exciting too. Perhaps it's because you have to make things work directly, with your instrument - there's no intermediary. So your experience of the music is much more direct, more immediate. I hope that comes across to the audience." Martin Outram, viola

"When there's no conductor there's an extra satisfaction - it's not just about being a willing contributor to someone else's creative process, but actually knowing that you are part of the engine." Stephen Stirling, horn

"More is demanded of you - you are more responsible. But in a way there is less stress, because your responsibility is to respond to what you hear, to go with your musical instincts, and not spend the time trying to fit with a beat that doesn't seem to correspond to what's actually going on." Judith Herbert, cello

"When you rehearse together, you are among friends. There's no one out to get you. Then when you perform, you try and draw the audience into that circle of friendship, too." Tony Catterick, horn

"For me, it's the quality of the listening. When we're all in a receptive and responsive mode, the musical conversation is mutual and the music-making is alive, spontaneous and truthful." Diana Ambache, piano.

The new trend. No conductor. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra does well without a maestro, thank you. Hint, hint, hint.

[HeresyLives]

1. So that's how they invented jazz!

[KonaKane]

2. Not a good idea, as a general rule.

While this may work with some select individual instrumentalists (ensemble playing is a demanding art), it would be a disaster if attempted in practice across the orchestra world. A conductor is not just the centerpiece of an artistic vision, he or she has talent of intimately knowing the different instrument groups in a way to actually lead them with cohesion, dynamic and a sense purpose that you cannot get with merely a bunch of players trying to follow each other. If you are a clarinetist playing a rubato solo with a string section support, how on earth are you going to relate to what they are playing if they are at double pianissimo? You could barely, or not even hear them.

Nah, terrible idea in general.

[stopbush]

3. Doesn't work once the forces involved get past chamber orchestra size.

And forget opera.

Most orchestral music was written to be conducted. Even if the conductor is a hack time beater, it makes life easier. The Orpheus CO used to rehearse a lot longer than does a standard symphony to put on a concert. Most orchestras rehearse for 4 days, then play 2 -3 concerts. Next week, they start all over with new music for the next concert.

[frazzled]

4. Having just come back from a symphony concert a few minutes ago ...

I can say, this doesn't really work beyond the chamber orchestra size (and many times, not even then), although I salute the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

For the past two years, since Daniel Barenboim left as principal conductor--and until next year, when Riccardo Muti comes full-time as conductor--the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has been working pretty much off guest conductors (with Bernard Haitink and Pierre Boulez sort of holding down the fort). I can attest to what completely different sounds each conductor extracts from this group of wonderful musicians. It's been pretty educational for me. Tonight was Michael Tilson Thomas, conducting Alban Berg and Brahms, and once again, it was a completely different ball game. The conductor is indeed an important element in the orchestral performance.