mingl

The musicians all have their music in front of them and and a good part of their training has to do with really learning to play with each other, whether in the section, like string players matching the way they play, or within the orchestra, like when percussionists really know how to play with other instruments in the orchestra (unlike strings, percussionists can't really just "sneak in"). Honestly 85% of the time an orchestra might not need a conductor at all. But especially during times when the tempo is flexible a conductor is essential. And there needs to be an agreement on an artistic approach to the work. While some conductor-less orchestras have developed amazing systems to gain consensus about an artistic vision, in most cases the conductor is the one that unifies the approach to a piece. There might be a crescendo, a swelling in the music, but how is that crescendo done? With urgency? With patience and a slow build? The conductor generally decides those aspects.

eh, got a kick out of it anyway

One never goes full Toscanini ;)

Hm, at this moment? Why not the theremin? That's the instrument that was often used for alien spooky sounds in old tv shows and movies. But it can be a gorgeous instrument, especially in the hands of somebody like carolina eyck. SF Ballet just did Little Mermaid with a score from Lera Auerbach. It uses theremin throughout and it's absolutely amazing as a legit instrument.

It used to be that conductors were actually like that, dictators on the podium. Toscanini, the famous italian conductor, was the Music Director for the NBC Orchestra for a long time. He was famous for his tirades. And there are still some conductors today with terrible tempers.

But today orchestral players have a lot more say about the conductors and even rate them. There are secret evaluations that orchestras have on conductors that we actually never see. Most conductors love collaborating with musicians, so conductors like Simon Rattle are leading the new charge of how conductors interact with orchestras.