Wild things: Conductors at the 2013 Proms

Feast on our annual gallery of baton men and women

by TheartsdeskMonday, 09 September 2013

Sweet Prom 16: Jac Van Steen

"What I’m looking for is that fraction of a second that at least I could remember the concert by." At the start of the 2013 BBC Proms season, photographer Chris Christodoulou let theartsdesk into the secret of snapping conductors at work. Now that the Proms are over for another year, we publish not the official shots, but the ones which are simply too quirky to be released by the BBC press office.

These images may not particularly flatter their subjects, but they do capture what it is to be a silent maestro magically conjuring sound from the massed ranks of an orchestra. Make sure to click on the images to enlarge. And in the comment box let us know which is your favourite.

Read theartsdesk's coverage of the Proms

Prom 5: Jonathan Nott

Prom 6: Juanjo Mena

Prom 8: Thomas Adès

Prom 10: Antonio Pappano

Prom 19: Semyon Bychkov

Prom 20: Daniel Barenboim

Prom 25: Nicholas Collon

Prom 27: Peter Oundjian

Prom 29: Donald Runnicles

Prom 30: Gianandrea Noseda

Prom 31: John Storgårds

Prom 32: Edward Gardner

Prom 42: Kirill Karabits

Prom 49: Robin Ticciati

Prom 52: Sakari Oramo

Prom 53: Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Prom 55: Antoni Wit

Prom 56: Philippe Jordan

Prom 57: Mark Elder

Prom 59: John Wilson

Prom 61: Josep Pons

Prom 64: Vladimir Jurowski

Prom 67: Paavo Järvi

Prom 72: Xian Zhang

Prom 74: Lorin Maazel

Prom 75: Marin Alsop

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You guys forgot to add one of

Permalink Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 11/09/2013 - 21:39

You guys forgot to add one of my absolute favorite conductors- Valery Gergiev! The most quirky yet noble men I have ever been honored to know. His conducting style definitely should have him on this list. I can't believe you forgot Maestro Gergiev!

It's not about 'favourite

Permalink Submitted by David Nice on Thu, 12/09/2013 - 10:57

It's not about 'favourite conductors', it's about Chris's choice of what he thinks are the most interesting images from the Proms. You will find his images of Gergiev three years running in his 2010, 2011 and 2012 Proms galleries ('The Art of Conducting') for The Arts Desk.

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