Me conducting Beethoven's ouverture on Coriolanus, Op. 62

This video shows me in conducting the Ouverture on Coriolanus, Op. 62, by Ludwig van Beethoven. Unfortunately, my director was a little floppy so the Ouverture is not taken from the beginning and it skips in a few points but I think it's still interesting and it was definately a great experience for me.

Coriolanus is a Roman aristocrat well respected in the Roman Senate for its action in capturing the Volscian town of Corioli. He was permanently banished from Rome upon being convicted on charges of misappropriation of public funds. He then turned against Rome making allegiance with the same Volscians he had defeated and attacking Rome.

In the chronicles by the roman writers, Coriolanus, in front of the city of Rome with the Volscians troops, is reached by his mother and his wife imploring to change his mind. Coriolanus then withdraws the troops and moves to the city of Antium.

In the adaptation of Heinrich von Collins, the one for which Beethoven wrote this Ouverture, Coriolanus changes his mind in front of his mother's tears. Thereafter he cannot accept the idea of being a betrayer of his city and commits suicide.

The Romantic version Coriolanus is then a controversial and passionate hero, in the middle between the impulsive hate against his compatriots, the immortal love for his relatives and a strong belief in values mixed with the sense of guilt.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• music
• beethoven
• conducting
• coriolanus

[Timrath]

that bassoonist at 1:50-2:10 should be castrated. that really hurt my ears.

[tukaaa]

she was a girl, if you wanna give it a try LOL

[stevebuttkins]

but you go into 2 in a couple of places, and the quavers are no worse off for it. If you feel it in 2, why not do it in two? Student orchestra or not, the misconception surely is that bigger and more beats means it's clearer which it certainly does not. Good sound for students though

[tukaaa]

I can see many problems with my conducting, but I don't frankly think the two/four beats is the main issue. I wanted to give the feeling that a conductor is not just a metronome: I don't know if I chose the best way, but at the end they got what I wanted.

[stevebuttkins]

why on earth are you in 4?

[tukaaa]

uhm... I'd ask: why not? Remember: it's a student orchestra

[violakeenan12]

@tukaaa Just counducted this myself. First attempt at conducting. I have got to respect your choosing to beat in 4. However I believe in 2 it has more push and drive to it, also means you can concentrate more on the emotion. Sounds quite good though! Would maybe take it a tash faster though ;)

[8269998]

Final Onward Triumphal march of the Telefoninis into Unknown Realms!

[Scissors8311]

@Timrath I completely agree!!!

[flofpflo]

you accetuate your beats just as much in the melodic passages as in the rythmic passages.. which in the long run does not teach the orchestra to play together, nor show them the direction of the music they are playing.

plus yours hands are always turned down.

otherwise it was certainly not bad.

[ecwaufisxtreme]

Try to mirror your hands a lot less and give different types of beats to show the different types of articulations. And yes, do this in two, that way the music has a better sense of forward motion.

[ckitb]

nn è un pò sotto tempo??nn ci dovrebbe essere il bisogno di battere in 4...(forse per esigenze orchestrali..)maybe bisognerebbe esaltare alcune dinamiche..