August 30th, 2009 • Ross Martin

Leonard Bernstein Performs Haydn With Almost No Hands

My new friend, legendary conductor Itay Talgam, gave his TED Talk at the Nokia Ideas Camp this weekend. He walked us through the variations in style and technique of the world's greatest classical conductors, ending, of course, with Bernstein.

I can't even begin to reproduce Itay's brilliance here; he's someone I hope everyone will have a chance to experience in person. Itay has such a facility with the canon, he makes the rare maestro air seem like something we can all, at least for a moment, breathe in and understand.

Itay ended with a clip of Bernstein conducting Haydn's Symphony #88. It's a beautiful piece, but what's most memorable is Bernstein's ability to channel Haydn through the orchestra with nothing more than a glance, a brow, a twitch…and almost no hands:

(If only the rest of us could conduct ourselves with such grace.)