Player-Conductors: Flights of Fancy? : Instrumentalists who choose to lead from the keyboard or first chair claim it inspires creativity--but critics call it an ego trip

Seated at the concertmaster’s chair, music director Iona Brown is putting the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra through its paces in Tchaikovsky’s “Rococo” Variations. Picking up her violin, she joins the strings in a passionate pizzicato, before raising her bow to admonish the nearby winds. Later, she cradles her instrument while sculpting a gentle phrase with a free hand.

Brown, who leads the 40-member ensemble in a series of concerts this week at Ambassador Auditorium and Royce Hall, both plays and conducts from the front desk, a centuries-old practice she adopted from her mentor, Neville Marriner.

“I could not bear just being a violin soloist,” says Brown, who studied with Henryk Szeryng. “There are so many of them and they play everything. I feel much happier directing myself; it’s much easier for me to be in the driver’s seat.”

Increasingly, as instrumentalists succumb to the lure of the podium, many like Brown are opting to combine disciplines in performance and lead from either the keyboard or the first chair.

These musicians, from early music proponent Trevor Pinnock to Andre Previn, have adopted special techniques to enhance communication with their players. At rehearsals, every nuance is carefully orchestrated, with body language assuming a crucial role. For some, eye contact with orchestra members is vital; others propel rhythmic impulses with their own sense of urgency. With a defiant thrust of a chin, a busy pianist can call in the brass; and with a wave of a hand, herald the tutti. And in a slow movement, a cantabile can be coaxed with a mere, raised eyebrow.

While the romantic literature that commands larger orchestral forces remains mostly off limits, repertory of the Baroque era, as well as the concerti of Mozart, Haydn and early Beethoven, lends itself well to the practice, according to those interviewed.

Nevertheless, obstacles remain. Allan Vogel, L.A. Chamber Orchestra principal oboist finds his ability to honor Brown’s musical intent depends largely on the hairdo sported by the string player who sits in his sight line. If violinist Lisa Johnson pulls her hair back, Vogel says Brown is easy to follow. Should Johnson wear her locks loose, Vogel often must take his cues from the other winds.

“Whoever sees Iona picks up her cues and communicates to the others in the section,” Vogel explained. “Listen, there are some conductors who are hard to follow even if they’re standing up there.”

Yet Brown is perplexed that some Los Angeles concertgoers find her methods distracting.

“Los Angeles is definitely the place where people want me to just stand up and conduct,” says Brown, in a backstage interview following the rehearsal. “I don’t get this reaction in London or Scandinavia. (Brown also directs the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra). In fact, what I do is commonplace in Europe.”

Brown believes her strength lies in her abilities as an artist, rather than as verbal communicator.

“Some critics say I lack spontaneity,” Brown says. “I disagree. I communicate through the music and demonstrate what I want. Not having a conductor puts more responsibility on the players, making them more aware of what is going on elsewhere within the orchestra. This can be very freeing.”

Ronald Leonard, Los Angeles Philharmonic principal cellist, thinks that some conductor/soloists are “up there playing on an ego trip.” Leonard also finds the symphony orchestra too large to be lead by instrumentalists.

“Sure, it looks great to an audience,” Leonard says. “They think it’s amazing that someone can play and do it all. But it’s pretty rare for an instrumentalist to really know the score. Besides, there is not the same security for musicians that there is when someone is conducting. It’s not the same as having a (Carlo Maria) Giulini up there. And when you get beyond a chamber orchestra, it becomes harder to communicate.”

Philippe Entremont, pianist and music director for life of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra (who has formerly held conducting posts in Denver and New Orleans), cautions would-be conductors that doing double duty in concert “is not a hobby.”

“So many cellists, violinists and even singers are attracted to the glamour of the podium,” Entremont said from Paris. “But those who are able to make this work have been confirmed conductors; music directors of orchestras. This makes all the difference.”

Early music proponent Trevor Pinnock, who leads his English Concert from the harpsichord “when practical,” says his own playing generates a lot of rhythm and excitement to the musicians immediately surrounding him, which in turn is communicated to the entire group.

“Giving visual signs is not necessarily the best. It’s sometimes better if the players have to listen than watch,” Pinnock says. “For this to work, the musicians have got to be comfortable with what they are doing.”

Tchaikovsky Competition winner Vladimir Ashkenazy, who also serves as music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, says that assuming a dual role on stage “gives more variety” to his concerts.

“I’m a well-known pianist,” he explains by phone from London, “and doing this attracts more people.” Ashkenazy says it also allows him to shape pieces in his own image.

“Often I have collaborated with conductors and the result is not as good as when doing it my way,” he says.

Previn stresses that collaborative efforts should feel normal and not take on “the attributes of a circus.”

“I’m always afraid that this will be looked at as a kind of stunt, and it’s far from that,” says Previn, who moves the piano to the midst of the orchestra to play/conduct with his back to the audience. “This method is an outgrowth of a musical idea. If the orchestra is really listening to the soloist and each other it all becomes very natural.”

In selecting repertory, pianist/Houston Symphony music director Christoph Eschenbach avoids anything beyond early Beethoven. If there are more than 10 first violinists, he says, it becomes more difficult to maintain contact with the players.

“I usually do Mozart concerti or early Beethoven or Bach,” says Eschenbach. “I regard these performances as large-scale chamber works rather than orchestral works.”

Yet Ashkenazy has been known to conduct all five Beethoven concertos from the keyboard. (He says he adapts the orchestral forces to his needs and where applicable, concludes the cadenza with one hand, bringing the orchestra in with the other). Entremont has ventured the Shostakovich Second; Previn recalls even the Ravel G-major and Prokofiev Third having been done this way.

Most violinist/directors are content to double up solely on the concerto repertory. Shlomo Mintz says he’s courageous enough to essay the Mendelssohn Concerto and the Beethoven with his Israel Chamber Orchestra. Yet few will dabble with the symphonic output.

Sure, Mintz will play along with the “Brandenburg” Concertos, as will Yehudi Menuhin. In fact, Menuhin, who often tours with his English Chamber Orchestra, says he’ll join in “anything Bach.” Then of course there’s David Zinman, the Grammy award-winning Baltimore Symphony conductor who likes to fiddle with Strauss waltzes and polkas. (He will present a Viennese evening this summer at the Hollywood Bowl).

In an effort to keep his name on the marquee, Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich usually appears as piano soloist and conductor on the same bill. He aspires to direct the symphonies of Tchaikovsky and Brahms and do opera--he cites a recent performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Pathetique” with Simon Rattle’s Birmingham Symphony--and expects to perform two Mozart concertos with the Los Angeles Philharmonic this summer at Hollywood Bowl.

“I think playing and conducting is easier,” Bishop-Kovacevich said by phone from London. “It can be awful though until you get used to it.”

Brown with her L.A. Chamber Orchestra enthusiastically participates in overtures, symphonies, concerti and in accompanying soloists.

Refusing to specialize in any particular period, and embracing the repertory from Baroque to the present, Brown constantly seeks new challenges. Due to the large orchestral forces involved, she stays away from the symphonies of Bruckner and Mahler. And because of the complexities of the score, she eschews the likes of Bartok’s “Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.”

“I love to have the opportunity with all my groups to do the widest possible repertory,” Brown says. “When a piece involves 25 players, we work together as an enlarged string quartet. When it comes to the last symphonies of Mozart, I face the orchestra and do a lot of conducting.

“I try at all times to be discreet. After all, the accent must be on the music and not too much on a big personality. If the end result sounds good, does it really matter how one achieves it?”