Many conductors choose to slacken the speeds suggested by Sibelius's metronome markings, particularly in the fast part (allegro energico) of the first movement.

Yet how different these two works are, and how differently the evening's conductor, Helmut Rilling, chose to perform them.

Both composers sometimes fall back on the overripe, hectoring rhetoric that afflicts most patriotic music and that mediocre conductors usually choose to emphasize, if not parody.

The conductor, Kenneth Montgomery, occasionally chooses peculiarly slow tempos, but they are almost all, mercifully, in the purely instrumental portions of the arias.

And the question arises: Given other options, what conductor would choose to conduct ballet?

The second half is marked for repeat, but the conductor may choose "whether to omit the da capo in order not to risk the surprise ending being anticipated."

Why would a conductor choose this direction?

Each conductor chooses from a palette of six modules, and points are assigned to each conductor based on the combinations of modules that occurred.

In the winter, the group takes a more liberal approach, playing whatever the conductor chooses.

It was unfortunate, probably, that the conductor of this performance, Max Epstein, chose to dilute the purity of the 1869 version in small but telling ways.