With or without the baton ? That is the question (27)

Whether a piece demands andante cantabile or largissimo, the "stick" has the final say. Balanced in the maestro's hand, the baton marks out the rhythm and delimits space. Way back in the 17th century, French composer Lully once beat his staff so vigorously that he delivered himself a fatal blow! Meanwhile in London, the ungainly staff was perhaps unsurprisingly giving way to the lighter and more graceful baton.

However, conductors over time have proven that they don't need wands to create musical magic. Musicians will follow their maestro through hell and high water in pursuit of the ultimate musical moment–even if the maestro conducts with his eyes closed (Karajan), if hands replace the traditional sticks (Stokowski, Boulez, Masur, Seiji Ozawa), or if the orchestra's only clues come in the way of blinks and head wobbles (Bernstein).

More info coming soon!
Leopold Stokowski conducts Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony, Wagner and Debussy
More info coming soon!
Sergiu Celibidache conducts Ravel and Debussy
Sergiu Celibidache conducts Ravel and Debussy

Münchner Philharmoniker

concert
More info coming soon!
Leonard Bernstein, Larger than Life
Leonard Bernstein, Larger than Life

A Portrait by Georg Wübbolt

documentary
More info coming soon!
Claudio Abbado conducts Mahler's Symphony No. 6, "Tragic"
More info coming soon!
Kurt Masur conducts Beethoven, Bach, Mendelssohn, and Brahms – With Renaud Capuçon
More info coming soon!
From Toscanini to Abbado, The History of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra
From Toscanini to Abbado, The History of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra

Toscanini, Furtwängler, Karajan, Menuhin, Abbado

documentary
More info coming soon!
Herbert von Karajan and Anne-Sophie Mutter perform Vivaldi's Four Seasons
More info coming soon!
Arturo Toscanini conducts Wagner
Arturo Toscanini conducts Wagner

NBC Symphony Orchestra

concert
More info coming soon!
Bernstein pays tribute to Stravinsky — With Michel Béroff
Bernstein pays tribute to Stravinsky — With Michel Béroff

The Historic Stravinsky Memorial Concert, April...

concert
More info coming soon!
Pierre Boulez conducts works by composers of the 1945 generation
Pierre Boulez conducts works by composers of the 1945 generation

With the Orchestre de Paris and the Ensemble in...

concert
More info coming soon!
Sir Simon Rattle conducts Rameau and Berlioz
Sir Simon Rattle conducts Rameau and Berlioz

Berliner Philharmoniker

concert
More info coming soon!
Seiji Ozawa and Marcus Roberts Trio play Gershwin in Berlin
Seiji Ozawa and Marcus Roberts Trio play Gershwin in Berlin

Waldbühne 2003: A Gershwin Night – Berliner Phi...

jazz
More info coming soon!
Barbara Hannigan conducts and performs Rossini, Mozart, Ligeti, and Fauré
More info coming soon!
Susanna Mälkki conducts Berlioz and Elgar – With Alban Gerhardt
More info coming soon!
Valery Gergiev conducts Prokofiev — With Denis Matsuev and Leonidas Kavakos
More info coming soon!
Karajan, or Beauty As I See It
Karajan, or Beauty As I See It

A film by Robert Dornhelm

documentary
More info coming soon!
Daniel Barenboim conducts Nicolai, Elgar and Tchaikovsky
More info coming soon!
Gounod's Mireille
Gounod's Mireille

Nicolas Joel (stage director), Marc Minkowski (...

opera
More info coming soon!
Neeme Järvi: One Thousand and One Nights — With Janine Jansen
Neeme Järvi: One Thousand and One Nights — With Janine Jansen

Waldbühne 2006: Sheherazade, An Oriental Night ...

concert
More info coming soon!
Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea
Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea

Robert Carsen (stage director), Emmanuelle Haïm...

opera
More info coming soon!
Maestras: The Long Journey of Women to the Podium
Maestras: The Long Journey of Women to the Podium

A documentary on female conductors

documentary
More info coming soon!
Philippe Herreweghe conducts Bach's Christmas Cantatas