The master at work

It is cool to watch Herbert von Karajan rehearsing with an orchestra.

There is a classic series of videos that shows him going over Schumann's Fourth Symphony the day before a recording. Part I did not allow embedding but Part II did. Get on YouTube, if you like what you see, and you can find the other parts. The whole symphony takes seven parts, or something like 40 minutes.

I was glued to it the other day and watched the whole thing! Then I watched a few sections over again. I found it that fascinating.

It is amazing, the things Karajan hears, and the ideas he has on how to fix them.

What is even more amazing to me is how gentlemanly he is. He is never impatient. He is humorous and respectful. You can tell he is always conscious that he is working with fine musicians. Frequently when he stops the orchestra he smiles. Even when he has to go over something a second or third time, he never becomes flustered or angry. Not even close to it.

Musicians must have loved working with him. I have not really read up on whether they did or not -- I just imagine they would have had to have loved it.

Not just every conductor should watch him in action. Every boss should.

The mark of the maestro

The other day I was going on about -- I know, as usual! -- the Allegretto from Beethoven's Seventh. I am sorry, I liked it was a teenager. I am afraid I am still a teenager.

Anyway, I found myself watching Herbert von Karajan conducting it on YouTube.

That is von Karajan up above.

There are moments when you see why a great conductor is a great conductor. I remember watching, also on YouTube, Leonard Bernstein conducting Mozart's "Ave, Verum Corpus." Here Bernstein was, not Catholic -- not even Christian -- and yet, for while he is conducting that music, he is. Because Mozart was, and that is what it takes to understand that music.

It is amazing. I want to say it is like watching a great actor but I think it is deeper than that. Bernstein brings out this music's reverence and mystical beauty as I have never seen anyone else do. He takes that moment at the beginning and gets into the zone. You see him mouthing the Latin along with the chorus. He was drawing the music out of everyone. You can see it.

That was, honest, the first time I "got" Bernstein. I looked at that and thought, that is a great conductor! That is what I am seeing.

The other night, watching Herbert von Karajan, I saw the same thing.

Watch what the maestro does at the end. He is guiding the music to a close, cuing the woodwinds, the hushed pizzicato on the violins. Then ... at the last chord. Look at that gesture.

It is a great bit of showmanship but it is genuine, too.

Amazing.