Page 300 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

nostalgic for that kind of mid-century fetishisation of monolithic, all-encompassing
power,” Bull says, noting how the film regularly references the likes of Herbert von
Karajan and Wilhelm Furtwängler – more assertive conductors from the art form’s
history.

But with principal conductors today embarking on shorter tenures with fewer
performances (not to mention less acceptance of that type of leadership in today’s
society) there’s also less chance for power to be so narrowly consolidated. “The 1960s,
70s and 80s conductors were more of that domineering style,” says Dyker. “I do feel
that it’s probably more something of the past.”