BBC Maestro Sue Perkins "Beethoven's Fifth Symphony"

[SleepingInTheFire]

she put a lot of energy and confidence into the performance, thats whats required, but her form on the hand movements for the beat could have been a bit better

[10Cnote]

She seem's such a stern woman and force to reckoned with when on the podium .

[Ihkueren]

Musicians of this caliber can play a whole symphony without someone giving them a single cue. lol there is much more to conducting than the final performance and swinging your arms about. Rehearsal and interpretation are very important. Conductors challenge and bring the best out of their orchestra. I appreciate television trying to incorporate more classical elements to the general audience but this is just absurd.

[jin12345678]

@Ihkueren no it's not. anybody who has a sense of rhythm and sound could conduct an orchestra, and influence the sound of an orchestra. at 1:16 you could see the orchestra is clearly following her in a ritardando which is not in goldie's performance.

[jin12345678]

@Ihkueren also there are differences in every phrase in the strings, the horns and the winds. of course, you cannot expect these contestants to form a conception of a piece fully like great conductors and inspire and challenge the musicians 200%- and obviously, the orchestra will be able to play without them - but any ape can communicate rudimentary ideas about phrasing, tempo and sound and influence the orchestra to play differently, according to their individual musical inclinations.

[jin12345678]

@Ihkueren I love that this program shows just that - that anybody could communicate their musical ideas through conducting. it shows that music isn't about elitism or hours of practice, that everybody fundamentally is capable of making and understanding music.

[jin12345678]

@Ihkueren actually she did better than what many student conductors would do.

[mage000012isback]

wow im not really into this kinda stuff as im only 17 but i bloody loved it!

[vitusvanc]

She looks like a mouse lost in a cornfield.

[Milky111wtf]

Yeah, nothing special.

[fowad27]

What a weird idea for a reality show.

[kadev4741]

Sue you are incredible talented! please show us more!

[proseit]

Poor Mr. Ludwig........ and poor music. sadness

[hubbaduh]

Oh good grief...do the vast majority of people commenting here not understand that this was a TV SHOW...and that the contestants were CELEBRITIES and not individuals who professional conduct (or have any plans of doing it)?!

[AspieHospitesMundi]

i think she has the same tpe of body dynamics and does not express the music quality she wishes to convey to the orchestra. she is suggesting that the whole peice is to be played in the same manner. she needs work, lots of it! i have studied conducting technique on my own and she has some major mistakes, but she could develop well if she really has the chance to examine other conductors. Overall she does ok mixing styles. She is very distracting to me as a musician. I have mixed reviews.

[ExplodingBacon]

You obviously weren't watching. During the driving part in the beginning, her conducting was very rigid, but around the 1:00 mark when it slowed, her motions became much more free-flowing.

[AspieHospitesMundi]

i follow the wagnerian idea of conducting. i would not want her to be my conductor at this stage. but with some more work and experience I would not mind.

[carmikecinemas]

im not an experienced conductor..but i have studied it and orchestras..

and she seems so mediocre and playful if those are the right words..

it just doesnt seem very real or serious..

[niettevragen]

am i the onlyone who thinks than above all....she is just sexy ?

[mtop6867]

Oh yeah, Sue's hot. Makes me wish I was a bird! ;)

[proseit]

yes you are

[pgstripes]

I'm a student conductor and I agree that she's not perfect. At the end of the day, however, all she had to do to win was to be better than the other contestants and she was.

I would also just like to remind you that this was only a TV programme and so its main purpose was to entertain, not to teach celebrities how to conduct!

[Melainy]

To all the ahem "experienced conductors" commenting, given that she had no conducting experience whatsoever before entering this competition I commend her for even trying to manage this beastly piece of music FROM MEMORY. A good musician will always follow dynamics anyway and her posture is irrelevant.

What is relevant, however, is that all the musicality she has is there. She can't be expected to be perfect in a matter of months. Stop being so elitist!!!

[guitarmanRT]

As an experienced conductor, who has done this very mov't of Beethoven symphony 5 from memory several times I give you this: Every orchestra on the planet has played Beethoven 5 at least 50 times... They weren't following her at all. She was following them (notice the lift beating). She was hunched over the whole time, and hit downbeats early on a regular basis. Her pp and ff looked the same, and the sfz were nonexistent. In fact the orchestra was not together in a few spots because of her. BAD

[JustinDBernardino]

More than 50 times, most orchestras have performed Beethoven's fifth at least 124 times, at minimum. As a violinist that has been conducted several times I have to say that I don't really mind her posture, however, her demeanor is quite, daunting, if that makes any sense. I would feel a little sea-sick being conducted by her. But, she gave a good effort, I guess. But as an experienced conductor I bet you already know that regardless, we as musicians, when the conductor is messing up know how

[JustinDBernardino]

to rely on ourselves and each other.

[Epmonito]

when have conductors in the UK are left hand dominant. I usually seem conductors with baton in right hand. someone clarify

[ringuy]

Too any one who thinks this is good, who thinks the orchestra is actually _following_ her, just ask yourself how, if you were in the orchestra, you would decide the tempo of the first two bars (the first four notes) based on her ONE beat for those two bars? There is no clue in her upbeat if she wants those notes fast or slow. The orchestra is very good - playing it together by themselves, with NO sign from the podium.

She does have have a very intense facial expression, though.

[bergwozzeck]

good thing the orchestra's on autopilot, having played this piece... 3454 times. those first 4 bars... ouch. still, i'll admit she beats through it better than i did my first time with a bad high school orchestra...

[batbat19]

Brilliant!

[00ellie00]

She was fantastic.

[NylonOrange]

Simply great!