American in Paris

[Bob Kolada]

How do you prefer the solo to be conducted, and how do you actually get it?

[Alex C]

In general, a good conductor will not "conduct" a soloist, whether the soloist is in front of the orchestra or sitting in it. If the soloist is good enough, no gesturing is necessary. If the soloist is inexperienced, surely a few verbal cues in rehearsal or a private word extra-rehearsal would be more effective than flailing away with arms, hands, fingers, elbows, shoulders, eyebrows and chin.

Bad conductors always seem to conduct the nuanced-hell out of a solo, who can respond to that when you are on the edge of your seat to begin with?

So, I prefer the conductor to keep the rest of the ensemble together while the soloist tries to express something in concert with the rest of the interpretation of the piece.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

All I want is a downbeat for the last note.