# How does a conductor's artistic direction influence a piece?



## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern (Jul 29, 2020)

Fairly straightforward question. I've always wondered what actual, tangible things the conductor does that makes a recording of a piece come off differently than others. Besides directing the flow of tempo and telling members of the orchestra to do things (Hey you! Viola! Bring out the sequence on m.223-228 more! Timpani! Play softer!) how does a conductor actually form his artistic direction to the point where the contrast between recordings of the same piece ends up being so stark?


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I tend to narrow it down to tempo, dynamics and articulation. Otherwise they're playing the same notes for most part.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Phil loves classical said:


> I tend to narrow it down to tempo, dynamics and articulation. Otherwise they're playing the same notes for most part.


Add phrasing to that, as well as balance, tone, dynamics within and between sections.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

_I've always wondered what actual, tangible things the conductor does that makes a recording of a piece come off differently than others._

Just about any possibility in the world can make a piece sound different in a recording. My favorite conductor, Leopold Stokowski, made recordings in the 1950s that used sound chambers to add depth to the final recording. He worked with engineers after the recording was done to enhance the original tape by adding artificial sounds to the final product.

This is similar to what a French company called Pristine does when they remake old recordings. They call it their XR system; it adds depth. Naxos does this on older recordings too.

In the heyday of London Phase 4 recordings the company recorded a piece with as many as 30 microphones, then the conductors and technicians made the recording afterwards in a studio by mixing everrything together. This sometimes gave the effect that a flute could stand out above an orchestra in a recording.

Most recording companies now say they try to make recordings more natural but you can still hear spotlighted instruments in almost every new recording.

There are other ways beyond pacing. When I was a young collector I had a Mendelssohn recording led by conductor Peter Maag that had been well-received critically. It used the London Symphony Orchestra and had a depth at the bottom other recordings of the same music did not. This depth came from the conductor's focus on low strings and timpani.

When I heard Maag conduct the Detroit Symphony later that year at their summer festival the DSO sounded exactly like the London Symphony did on the recording I owned. This is one way a conductor's influence can make a recording his or her own and stand apart from others.

An easier way to change sound and dynamics is simply to organize the orchestra differently for a recording session. Moving the brass and woodwinds forward, or doing same with timpani, and moving the strings backward changes the concept of the music without making any other changes.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

The overall structure - the pacing, the relationship between climaxes or gentle passages and the rest - of the piece and the overall "flavour" of it (for example, compare anything by Klemperer with something by Karajan - the overall "meaning of the piece is different) - everything else is part of these factors. The whole thing is what matters.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

Bernstein has a good presentation on this very topic in his lectures, available on DVD. It only partly answers the question, of course, as much of it is still subjective and mysterious, even to those who actually do it and who are clearly good at it.


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