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Robert Shaw
| Article
# : |
18953 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1991 |
2,295 Words |
| Author
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Herb Greer
Herb Greer is an American writer and playwright who lives in
Britain and on the Continent. |
Usually, the sight of a great conductor at work is kaleidoscopic. The performances of Toscanini, Stokowski, and Sir Thomas or more recent masters like Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein, or younger virtuosos--Andre Previn, Loren Maazel, Simon Rattle--tend to display an energetic blending, and sometimes clash, of exuberant energies; conductor and composer merge into a glittering faceted alloy forged between the orchestra and podium. In our time the personality of the most spectacular conductors has tended to dominate, and occasionally take over, the music. One speaks of Toscanini's Beethoven, Bernstein's Sibelius, or Previn's Rachmaninoff.
At first sight, Robert Shaw seems the outstanding exception to this modern tendency. His work appears to flow from a still center of gravity, creating an impersonal space into which the essence of the music can expand and sound. Of course, as in all art, this is an illusion. Shaw's deliberately complex warm-up and rehearsal techniques show that as a conductor he sculpts the music no less completely than any of his flashier colleagues. His control is highlighted in concert by the palpably intense bond with his performers, giving a unity of purpose that infuses the performance with great strength. Choir and instrumentalists bracket their attention on him absolutely, responding to his smallest signal--a carefully raised arm, the movement of a finger--with beautifully controlled nuances, apparently allowing the music to unfold according to the logic of its own impulse and structure, opening out and embracing the listener, until music, only music, fills the listening ear and the air around it. Conductor and performers fade into the background, forgotten until the music dies away and its spell is lifted. There is a curiously exhilarating chastity about this experience, a purity that is almost unique in an age of plastic images, ostentatious personalities, and sexy publicity.
Early Years
Such a gift seems to have been there from the beginning of Shaw's career. There is a story told about him as a young man in New York, when he was engaged to rehearse the NBC chorus for Toscanini's performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Having prepared the vocal work, Shaw brought the chorus to Toscanini, who listened while they sang. Then he said to Shaw, "That's all right." The young conductor asked Toscanini what should be changed, and the maestro snapped, "Young man, when I say it's all right, that means it's all right." Another remark from Toscanini is more widely quoted these days. He said, "In Robert Shaw, I have found the maestro I have been looking for." Such recognition underlined a
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