Eyes and teeth: Conductors at the 2016 Proms

Feast on our annual parade of bulging eyeballs and windmill arms at the Royal Albert Hall

by TheartsdeskMonday, 12 September 2016

Vladimir Jurowski: one in the eye for the LPO Copyright: BBC/Chris Christodoulou

The concert photographer Chris Christodoulou has been taking pictures at the BBC Proms for 35 years. Even more than the musicians under their baton, he spends his time watching conductors like a hawk, observing their every gesture and grimace. Every year the wackier images, which convey less dignity but more truth, don’t make it into the public eye.

Or they didn’t until we at The Arts Desk entered into collaboration with Christodoulou. This year we publish our seventh gallery of his action portraits. Normally we publish only one snap per conductor. This time round, to help the Proms along with the project of improving gender and ethnic diversity among conductors, there are two images each of Rafael Payere, the Venezuelan graduate of El Sistema, and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, the new music director of the CBSO who made her Proms debut this year.

Enjoy Chris Christodoulou’s previous conductors galleries: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Chris Christodoulou on the fine art of shooting conductors
Read all theartsdesk's reviews of the BBC Proms

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge

Prom 1: Sakari Oramo

Prom 2: Sir Antonio Pappano

Prom 4: Valeri Gergiev

Prom 9: Jérémie Rhorer

Prom 11: Mark Wigglesworth

Prom 14: Enrique Mazzola

Prom 13: Vladimir Jurowski

Prom 15: Sir Andrew Davis

Prom 16: Jac van Steen

Prom 18: Bernard Haitink

Prom 21: Nicholas Collon

Prom 22: Edward Gardner

Prom 20: Sir John Eliot Gardner

Prom 23: John Storgårds

Prom 24: Juanjo Mena

Prom 31: Thomas Dausgaard

Prom 37: Thomas Sondergard

Prom 40: Thomas Adès

Prom 42: Harry Christophers

Prom 43: Daniel Barenboim

Prom 46: Ilan Volkov

Prom 47: Rafael Payare

Prom 48: Matthias Pintscher

Prom 53: Vasily Petrenko

Prom 55: Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla

Prom 59: Herbert Blomstedt

Prom 60: Philippe Jordan

Prom 63: William Christie

Prom 64: Sir Simon Rattle

Prom 65: Baldur Brönnimann

Prom 68: Sir Mark Elder

Prom 75: Sakari Oramo

Explore topics

Share this article

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more Classical music

Fauré Centenary Concert 5, Wigmore Hall review - a final flight The master of levitation in transcendent performances from Steven Isserlis and friends

Ohlsson, BBC Philharmonic, Storgårds, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - grace and power in Brahms A time-travelling journey through the Austro-German Romantic tradition

Fauré Centenary Concert 1, Wigmore Hall review - Isserlis and friends soar Saint-Saëns is no also-ran in the opening event of a wondrous homage

'His ideal worlds embraced me with their light and love': violinist Irène Duval on the music of Fauré On the centenary of the great French composer's death, a fine interpreter pays homage

Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, La Nuova Musica, Bates, Wigmore Hall review - thrilling Handel at full throttle Vibrant rendering filled with passion and delight

Hallé, Wong, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - Bruckner’s Ninth completed Kahchun Wong takes Manchester audience on an epic journey

The Orchestral Forest, Smith Square Hall review - living the orchestra from the inside Immersive concert explores the plight of the British rainforest through music

Classical CDs: Leaves, prisms and sub-bass A great pianist bows out, plus two cello discs and a new organ's first outing

First Person: Bob Riley on Manchester Camerata's championship of a Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia Making a difference out of the musical ghetto

Aurora Orchestra, Collon, Drumsheds review - surround-sound magic in the super-club On a vast dancefloor, the chance to listen from inside the orchestra

Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Wigmore Hall review - warm and colourful Bartók and Brahms Versatile chamber ensemble excels in clarinet-focused repertoire

Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber, Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford review - an unforgettable recital The great German baritone in glorious voice at the Oxford International Song Festival

Follow @theartsdesk