{"id":1846,"date":"2018-04-04T13:48:10","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T13:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/?p=1846"},"modified":"2018-04-19T19:39:51","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T19:39:51","slug":"conducting-with-ones-back-to-the-orchestraripms-illustrations-of-the-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/?p=1846","title":{"rendered":"Conducting with One’s Back to the Orchestra RIPM’s “Illustrations of the Week”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, opera conductors are positioned between the audience and the orchestra, so as to visually lead both those singing on stage and the instrumentalists accompanying them. In the 19th century, however, engravings frequently depict conductors in what would be viewed today as a most unusual position\u2014right in front of the stage, with their backs to the orchestra! See if you can spot the conductor in the following series of images.<\/p>\n

\"\"A production of Fromental Hal\u00e9vy\u2019s Charles VI<\/em> at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre de l\u2019Op\u00e9ra.
\nL’Illustration<\/em>, Vol. I (18 March 1843): 41.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n
A scene from Donizetti\u2019s Don Pasquale<\/em> at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre-Italien
\nL’Illustration,\u00a0<\/em>Vol. I (1 April 1843): 72.<\/span><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"An engraving from an 1848 production at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre de Trianon
\nL’Illustration,\u00a0<\/em>Vol. XI (22 April 1848): 128.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Another image of a Fromental Hal\u00e9vy opera production, this time of La Juive<\/em>
\nL’Illustration,\u00a0<\/em>Vol. X (18 September 1847): 37.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"A view from the stage at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre royal de Berlin
\nL’Illustration,\u00a0<\/em>Vol. IX (21 August 1847): 388.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"A similar view, this time from the Grand-Th\u00e9\u00e2tre in St. Petersburg
\nIbid.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"A horse race scene from Monr\u00e9al and Blondeau\u2019s Paris port de mer at the Parisian Th\u00e9\u00e2tre des Vari\u00e9t\u00e9s
\nL’Illustration, <\/em>Vol. XCVII (14 March 1891): 236.<\/span><\/p>\n

This collection of iconography captures a particular performance practice at a specific time in musical history. And as in the case of the final image above, which was featured in a recent\u00a0post<\/a>\u00a0about the use of machinery to create scenic illusions at the opera, these illustrations also demonstrate the many different research inquiries that can be formulated from a single piece of iconography.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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***<\/p>\n

RIPM\u00a0is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing\u00a0access to\u00a0music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning\u00a0under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).<\/p>\n

WWW.RIPM.ORG<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, opera conductors are positioned between the audience and the orchestra, so as to visually lead both those singing on stage and the instrumentalists accompanying them. In the 19th century, however, engravings frequently depict conductors in what would be viewed today as a most unusual position\u2014right in front of the stage, with their backs to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-iow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1846"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2384,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846\/revisions\/2384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}