Handy terms can often serve well as useful shorthand, while rarely reflecting the diversity of what they describe. An ‘orchestra’ can run the gamut from grand symphonic to a period ensemble. The term ‘classical music’ is highly problematic in itself – exactly how medieval chant, Mahler symphonies and contemporary opera relate to each other I shall leave to musicologists to discuss. But what about ‘conductor’? To many in the wider world it conjures a very specific image, probably a man in tails, on a podium, brandishing a baton. Of course such a definition is far too narrow – early music conductors (men and women) standing behind their harpsichords are as far removed from the above image as is a cassock-wearing cathedral choirmaster. Yet even where we do mean that more traditional type of symphonic conductor, looking below the surface can still reveal a rich diversity of what they do.

By ‘what they do’ I’m less concerned here with the process of performing music (we’ve explored that before, and I’m quite sure will do so again), but about how a conductor leads a group of fellow musicians, and in many ways a wider organisation, and how they relate that shared endeavour to the world around them. This month our three main interviews delve in-depth into that question. We didn’t actually set out to plan such a study of the nature of conducting – each article was arranged independently, at different times, based on a story we simply wanted to explore. But taken together, that’s precisely what they do.

Teodor Currentzis is a rather radical figure, whose albums (which I’ve hugely admired) have generated just as much criticism as praise. But in Peter Quantrill’s fascinating feature we meet an uncompromising artist who has founded and shaped an ensemble in his own image, and whose total devotion to the process of recording should win him renewed respect among readers of Gramophone.

Michael Tilson Thomas, by contrast, took on a major league ensemble with an existing heritage and organisational structure. That can always pose a risk of resting on laurels, but MTT, as he’s long been more succintly known, instead used this privileged foundation to shape, over a quarter century, an orchestra committed to exploring exactly what its relationship to local audiences, future audiences, and listeners worldwide could and should be, as San Francisco-based writer Steven Winn reports.

And then an insight into the sort of orchestra which can sometimes be the most rewarding of all: one not based in a major metropolis, and which can therefore take nothing for granted by way of status. Such ensembles can be true musical beacons, and command a passionate loyalty from their supporters. Jakub Hrůša’s distinctive approach to the Bamberg Symphony has clearly struck a chord: according to Neil Fisher’s article, concerts are a staggering 97.5 per cent sold. That speaks volumes.

Three conductors, three very different orchestras, and three thought-provoking portraits of what a maestro means to their musicians and audiences. I hope these articles enrich your enjoyment of their music-making which is, after all, what matters most of all.

martin.cullingford@markallengroup.com