Word: conductor
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Nothing annoys Conductor Otto Klemperer quite so much as applause. He takes his bows almost grudgingly, his craggy face expressionless, his eyes apparently unseeing. To Klemperer, musicmaking is almost a mystic rite upon which an audience should never intrude. Last week Klemperer's annoyance was severe: in the U.S. for the first time in nine years, he led the Philadelphia Orchestra in Manhattan's Carnegie Hall-and roused the crowd to an ovation the like of which conductors rarely hear...
...fist, Klemperer led the Philadelphia through performances of Beethoven's Eroica and Pastoral symphonies that were wonders of clarity and searching detail. Under Klemperer, the familiar, voluptuous Philadelphia sound faded away; the orchestra sounded lean and meticulously responsive as it played at tempi more deliberate than any other conductor would dare use (the New York Times's Harold Schonberg, who likes to clock performances, reported that the Pastoral Symphony took 50 minutes instead of the customary...
...Conductor Bentley Layton chose a wise program for his chamber orchestra, and performed it with security, confidence, and a very welcome accuracy. Layton apparently did his work with the orchestra before the concert. Last minute attempts to save a sinking orchestra were totally absent from his podium performance; he infused the orchestral sound with the proper delicacy and care...
...concert was. Understandably, the Bach Society Orchestra playing Bach's fourth Klavier concerto in A major was a fine show. Luise Vosgerchian, soloist and preceptor of music in the Department of Music, seized the concerto firmly in hand and gave it an energetic and clear performance. Miss Vosgerchian and conductor Layton worked together very closely; the taperings at the ends of phrases and changes in dynamics, for example, fitted together like fine-tolerance metal work. Although the second movement (Larghettoo) may have been a bit too fast, here Miss Vosgerchian and the orchestra produced a real sense of intimacy...
...Question Ives exploits a favorite device of his, two independent ensembles. One, the muted strings, provides a constant background, labelled "the eternal silence of the Druids." The other, a few woodwinds, attempts to answer the question proposed by a solo trumpet. The woodwinds are only cued in by the conductor, but they play at a tempo independent of his; they must rely on each other for co-ordination. Preserving the sense of tentativeness, of irresolution, Layton took care to bring out the fine details of interpretation and gave these pieces as close to a perfect performance as one could hope...