CrownStarr

You're stranded on a desert island for the rest of your life with a piano, and you're allowed to bring the full compositional output of one and only one composer. Whose music would you bring?

Hahaha, making a boat was also my answer when someone posed it to me. It's a fun hypothetical though, and Beethoven was definitely up there for me. I think I ended up going with Bach, though.

The idea that the musicians can play the piece by themselves does depend on both the talent of the ensemble and the difficulty of the music. A top-level orchestra could get through just about anything by themselves if necessary, but an amateur or student ensemble may not. Also, some very complex modern pieces are borderline unplayable without a conductor, because it’s not obvious to the musicians who’s supposed to be playing with whom.

Depending on the difficulty of their part and their familiarity with it, professional musicians may not be practicing that concert’s music very much, but rest assured they are definitely practicing something constantly.

Haven’t read the whole thread, so apologies if you answered this already.

Have you ever realized on the podium that an ensemble is 100% not following you, whether through incompetence or distrust? How did you handle it?

I’m a musician myself who does a fair amount of band/orchestral performing and I’ve definitely been in some situations (especially auditions/clinics) where we all knew the person up there was waving their arms fruitlessly, and I’m always curious how self-aware they are.

EDIT: Do you ever announce/introduce music from the podium? Any thoughts on the topic in general? Doing that and doing it well is a pet cause of mine, though not as a conductor.