The Art of Conducting 2011

Chris Christodoulou's photographs from the Proms show conductors giving their all

by TheartsdeskSaturday, 14 July 2012

Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits drags every last drop of musical expression from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at the 2011 BBC PromsAll images © BBC/Chris Christodoulou

The greatest music festival of them is once more upon us. Throughout our extensive coverage of last year's BBC Proms, we featured the remarkable work of photographer Chris Christodoulou. We have asked Chris to select his favourite pictures of conductors at work, and we present them again for your entertainment and enlightenment as the world's greatest conductors again take to the podium for the summer to show exactly what it takes to do what they do.

The portraits find the maestri of the podium displaying the full range of communicative emotions - commanding, pleading, imperious, plaintive. Click on the images to see the conductors in all their gurning, bug-eyed glory. And we can all look forward to more from incisive portraits seen through Chris's all-glimpsing lens.

Jiří Bělohlávek, Prom 1

Antonio Pappano, Prom 2

Martyn Brabbins, Prom 4

Myung-Whun Chung, Prom 5

Mark Elder, Prom 9

Juanjo Mena, Prom 10

Semyon Bychkov, Prom 13

Vladimir Jurowski, Prom 15

Thierry Fischer, Prom 16

Oliver Knussen, Prom 19

Gianandrea Noseda, Prom 22

Andrew Davis, Proms 24

Donald Runnicles, Prom 27

Peter Phillips, Prom 28

Gustavo Dudamel, Proms 29

Vassily Sinaisky, Prom 37

Andrew Litton, Prom 40

Valeri Gergiev, Prom 42

Bernard Haitink, Prom 47

Andrew Manze, Prom 48

Stephen Layton, Prom 50

Thomas Dausgaard, Prom 51

Paul McCreesh, Prom 58

John Wilson, Prom 59

Jaap van Zvweden, Prom 60

David Robertson, Prom 61

Zubin Mehta, Prom 62

Iván Fischer, Prom 63

Jac van Steen, Prom 65

Colin Davis, Prom 67

Manfred Honeck, Prom 69

John Eliot Gardiner, Prom 73

Edward Gardner, Prom 74

The portraits find the maestri of the podium displaying the full range of communicative emotions - commanding, pleading, imperious, plaintive

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