At the age of three, I remember jumping on my parent’s sofa, waving my arms in the air conducting a record of Gilbert and Sullivans Pirates of Penzance. Last week, my four-year-old son was doing the same thing, only to the soundtrack of Disney’s Frozen.
“What are you doing?” I said. “I am being you, Daddy,” he replied as he continued directing his imaginary orchestra. I felt a heartstring pluck and I remembered as a child getting excited at the music and just letting my arms wave and wiggle. Fifty years later I do it for real. But what conductors actually do can be a bit of a mystery.
