Abstract
David Zinman, the music director of Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, answered the question, “Can conducting be taught” in this way:
“You can point out to conductors where the disconnect is, what’s causing it. It can be their own fears, their own psychoses. Or that they don’t trust the musicians. Or that they don’t trust themselves. If you can get them to think about it, that’s a step in the right direction. There’s no one way of beating time and I don’t try to teach that at all. If its not clear I say so – its important to give an up beat that really means something……….And the conductor has to allow the orchestra to listen to itself as well. You can’t control every factor and the less you control the better it is…….As conductors get old, their movements get less and less. Thats the truth – they’ve found a way to make it go! They’ve found the way they expect the orchestra to play. The expectation is so important”.