Baton down the hatches
The key components for a healthy relationship between conductor and orchestra vis-à-vis stick technique are consensus and consistency. The orchestra must come to a consensus as to where they play in relation to the ictus, and the conductor must be consistent in the placement of that ictus and where s/he feels the beat relates to that ictus.
The first part of that equation, consensus, swings heavily in favor towards full-time orchestras. The more a group plays together, the more they have a feel for where they are placing (or at least feel they are placing) the beat. Orchestras that are part-time are not so fortunate in this regard, not only due to their lack of communal working time, but also the fewer number of conductors they see, and thus learn.
I personally have never had a major problem with the actual basic technique of a conductor, at least those who have attained a fair degree of success in the field. I have had more problems with the attempts of conductors to use all approaches of conducting at the same time within a given piece or concert. Things usually don’t go well when the first movement of Eroica is styled with Boulezian precision, but the conducting of the subsequent movement looks like Karajan circa 1985, with the conductor expecting the sound to speak 3-5 seconds after the beat. This is an offshoot of the “real personality” discussion from my Day 1 post.
As for why this whole thing happens, I prefer to sidestep the question, given historical and cultural issues that the history of conducting carries. Furthermore, I don’t know if I see an actual problem that can be fixed without changing something that is a core component of the art. And, like many things in our field, the best cure might be more practice…
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