Women conductors; how good are they?

Not really; compared to the great strides achieved by the men. I may not be wrong if I say the music scene will not produce one in the next fifty years or beyond at the rate women make such appearances.

I am thinking in terms of great and vibrant ones like Sir Malcom Sergent, Yehudi Menuhin, etc and presently the one who has made it to the top, Vladimir Jurowski, conductor of the London Phiharmonic Orchestra along with Jiri Belohlavek, David Robertson, Sir Andrew Davis to mention few among many around the world. Yehudi Menuhin left a new vision for life with his Yehudi Menuhin School, the International Music School founded by him for musically gifted children to develop their potential and achieve the highest standard of performance on strings, guitar and piano in 8-19 age group.

However, given the time with all facilities, playing experiences and exposure to the lesser known ensembles, women conductors can pick if they have the grit, challenge and determination to invade to this all-male dominated area.

Perhaps the best of the lot of women conductors, Marin Alsop is as good as her famous counterparts. Seasonally, she conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra as a guest conductor.

And, there is one woman conductor who is stirring the classical music scene in a big way and keep gaining momentum each time she picks the baton over a session with new and enhanced vigour. She is Marin. I have seen her conducting and I think she is great by all standard. She is passionate and dedicated; it is written all over her face. She conducts the masters on the concert podium in their elevated stature no different to her male counterpart. But for those who believe that the role of the conductor has been overrated and all what they do is to help the orchestra keep time, such critics come harshly down on the woman conductor. It is more of a gender attitude.

Marin Alsop is an eye-open for such people; she is multi-award winning conductor and appears at the Southbank Centre as a resident conductor when invited but most of the time she is on the international stage. She believes that people really do not understand the role of the conductor and perhaps how she stands between the orchestra she conducts and the composer whose work she is directing.

The conductor, thereby, becomes the voice for both.

That is how I feel about the whole issue. To me, it is such an analogy like a thespian on the stage who brings words to life.

She inspire and encourage the audience to relate to her but I feel that all do not pick the cue from just because she is woman.

But I have realized that her role is far more complexed and just sitting by and watching her arm and body movement.

Her body language is her proof and commitment.

The first time I saw Marin Alsop was when she conducted the Orchestra of the enlightenment at the Royal Festival Hall. She jolted me out of my seat with her precise virtoustic handling of the baton on the spectacular Gustav Mahler's Resurrection symphony. She kept all of us on the edge of our seats. She was perfect. She was immaculate.

Resurrection-Symphony in C minor (1888-94)

About this symphony which Mahler considered to be the sequel of ‘The Titan’, calls for gargantuan forces and as powerful as it comes with a pipe organ, church bells, off-stage horns, trumpets and percussion with soprano, contralto and chorus. If this work was subject to a programmatic interpretation, I doubt that Marin Alsop saw it that way because one could feel that the first movement is about death, the second about youthful optimism, the third about life's vulgarities and finally, the fourth about spiritual life.

Internationally acclaimed soprano, Barbara Hannigan is also making a name for herself as a conductor with many reputed symphony orchestras.

However, Mahler held over the last movement as Judgement Day. Differently speaking, the symphony is an allegory on the life of man.

Naturally, the finale is certainly loud enough to wake the dead; one of the most thrilling, shattering climaxes on any symphony and Alsop rose to the occasion even better than a male conductor with her passionate body language. Of all Mahler's eight symphonies, I believe this one to be the most difficult to put in place, especially in the movement the Judgment Day. Mahler was a conductor beside being a composer, perhaps the reason that Alsop was able to relate to his compositions.

Barbara Hannigan

Yet another conductor up in the rise is the well-known internationally acclaimed soprano more in demand for her singing than with the baton in her hand. She takes on the London Sinfornieta to homage Stravinsky for his popular score, Renard which is chamber opera in 1 act. This is an experimentation for her on creative arts. The concert explores the important works of Stravinsky and for her, this is a challenge she handles with her spectacular voice. She will be at the Southbank Centre two weeks hence, to perform and conduct.

Here again the question is raised, may be because she is a woman, whether this give her the edge as a conductor when it comes to producing an opera. She is very lush and open about her prospects and declare that most instruments in an orchestra will sing under her baton.

She hears her voice in the instruments and tries to be one to give this moving organism human quality as much as possible. Hanningan has the edge over Alsop in that she is a high profile singer with notes at her command, in her system which makes it easy for conducting.

There are many other aspiring women conductors wielding the baton and with time they will surface. A challenging task in a man's world.