Moving from the Soloist’s Spotlight to the Conductor’s Podium—and Back Again

In Monday’s (7/23) Classic FM (U.K.), Rosie Pentreath writes, “Most of the conductors of the world likely learned musical instruments before it occurred to them to step onto the podium. But living for the feeling of summoning the energy and togetherness of the orchestra in front of them … they abandoned their instruments and enjoyed the limelight as leader of it all. But there are some conductors, famous today for leading the great symphony, philharmonic and chamber orchestras of the world, who had—or who still have—past or parallel lives making as strong a reputation for themselves as soloists as they do directors of the orchestra…. They swap their instruments—or their voices, as some examples here will show—for the delicate baton, and apply all they have learned as masters of their craft …  to directing a sea of people making up the greatest musical instrument of them all: the orchestra. Here we celebrate some of the greatest soloists turned conductors, past and present.” The article includes Leonard Bernstein, Daniel Barenboim, Barbara Hannigan, Maxim Vengerov, Mstislav Rostropovich, Susanna Mälkki, Jaap van Zweden, Pinchas Zukerman, Nathalie Stutzmann, Leonidas Kavakos, Julian Rachlin, and Han-na Chang.