Non-Olympic sports: 12 conductors singing

Non-Olympic sports: 12 conductors singing

Orchestras

norman lebrecht

August 05, 2024

It’s Karajan vs Lenny in the final of the medley.

Want more? Solti gives a masterclass to Dudley Moore:

Comments

  • fierywoman says:

    Ah, but how about the conductors who make noises as they conduct in performances?

  • Jennifer Dyster says:

    Stutzmann sings for the orchestra for phrasing and colour ! But it’s not as comic as this lot!

  • Bogdan Onofrei says:

    I vote for Celi

  • Antwerp Smerle says:

    Wonderful! I once saw a charming video of Muti singing solfeggio in a masterclass, but couldn’t find it on YouTube. At the risk of annoying Chicagorat, would anyone who has it care to post it?

  • JayBee says:

    How about Toscanini’s (in)famous Traviata?

    • Petros Linardos says:

      I always thought Toscanini had a nice italian tenor voice. It sounded remarkably resonant even in old age, even when he was cursing the double basses…. Vocal technique was another matter. Making sense?

  • David K. Nelson says:

    On the other side of the coin, the conductor Sir Edward Downes was said to have an exceptional singing voice. So it’s not as if a bad singing voice is automatically part and parcel of the job.

    • Petros Linardos says:

      Fischer-Dieskau is on record about Friscsay’s lovely tenor voice. (Finding musical flaws in Fricsay must be harder than winning an Olympic medal.)

  • Philipp Lord Chandos says:

    The moment Karajan starts singing, you realise that he is Austrian.

    What a natural talent!

  • fierywoman says:

    FWIW, although I did not particularly enjoy Placido Domingo’s conducting (very meh) , but in rehearsals with the orch before the “al italiana” or Sitzprobe, he sang ALL the parts — fascinating.

  • Jackson says:

    For sheer virtuosity Solti wins hands down.

  • Philipp Lord Chandos says:

    The champion singing conductor for your Bruckner Day!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSY9r7v4cEk

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