I've always enjoyed classical music, but was never a serious listener who bought CDs or attends concerts. I suppose it would be a wonderful fantasy for a classical music lover to be able to conduct a world-class orchestra.
Ironically, I am someone who has done just that - conducted a world-class orchestra. And it scared me to death. So, just how did that come about?
First, let me say right now that I am not Nuke or Bye-Bye and I'm not one to toot my own horn. I have played music for almost 40 years and even been paid to do it, but I always gave the money to others guys in the bands I've played with, since I don't consider myself a professional and I earn enough in my business. Music has always been just a release for me and they had to pay the rent with it.
So how did I get to conduct an orchestra? Well, I was asked to play a part in a movie 4 years ago written and directed by a fellow named Hisaishi Joe. He's a world-class composer who has written and performed a huge catalog of movie scores (
http://www.joehisaishi.com/)
My character was a genius conductor (har har) and one of the scenes required me to conduct the New Japan Philharmonic (originally formed by Ozawa Seiji) - Here's a short
sample of them.
Anyway, I was present at the recording sessions for the movie score and spent quite some time with the real conductor in preparation for filming. So, not only did I have the pressure of all those real musician faces looking at me, thinking how foolish this amateur was going to be, but I had to do all my lines... in French.
I used to be fairly fluent in French, a few decades ago, but this was going to be tough since much of the dialog was to be improvised. The cast is speaking Japanese, I'm speaking French and have to really conduct the real symphony members.
Now, I'm used to being in front of people, even many people, but this was different. I was out of my element and felt like a total fraud conducting them. Let me tell you, I was sweating bullets when I stepped onto that platform, but we got it done.
The thing I will remember forever is after our last take and the director yelled cut, the orchestra started stomping their feet in the traditional way of saying, "Bravo!" as the rest of the cast and audience hooted and applauded. I suppose they were surprised that the rank amateur wasn't as bad as they thought he would be. It was very heartwarming and something I will cherish, even though I think they were just glad it was over.
