Rare documentary footage of a lost Hungarian maestro

David K. Nelson says:

I had not seen this before. Speaking from the perspective of one who has played in a few orchestras – but never one of this quality — a few things strike me. I try to imagine what it would be like to be playing under, not just watching. First, I like playing under conductors such as this who shout corrections or comments (including approval) but nonetheless keep conducting and the music keeps going. You don’t have to stop for everything — pick your stops. And when he did stop, he tried to get a lot done including covering things that weren’t due to be played for several more minutes, thus conveying that he fully intended to get there, which is welcome.

I was a bit surprised by how, well, “pictorial” some of his language was, the leaping panther, the distance from the river, that sort of thing, with a professional orchestra. It seemed to get real results. This can be overdone, especially if it is clearly not spontaneous but “rehearsed” and thus contrived. He seemed spontaneous, and yes as mentioned by the narrator, that brief statement about it being good to be alive, in the context, is moving.