Music -not for faint-hearted

Press, 7 March 1978, Page 14

Music -not for faint-hearted

Symphony orchestra conducting is a strenuous physical activity, but many conductors have continued to work till a ripe old age. While the conductor of the New Zealand Synv phony Orchestra for its Christchurch Arts Festival concerts from March 15 to 19 is not an old man, he is a very fit one. Elyakum Shapirra is at present chief conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and in 1976 he took part in an experiment at the Adelaide School of Advanced Education. He agreed to be wired by a team of researchers from the school’s Institute of Fitness Research and Training, and to be monitored for heartbeat and blood pressure while conducting. First, a tape recording of Dvorak’s Symphony No

8 was played, with Shapirra simulating the actions of a conductor; then he was monitored in rehearsal with the Adelaide Symphony playing the same work, and finally under his smart set of tails he was monitored at a concert. With tape, Shapirra measured 102 heartbeats a minute; in rehearsal the monitor hit 168 beats; with the final staggering count for his live performance of 186 heartbeats a minute. A spokesman for the institute commented, “The physical work in each situation is the same. The differences indicate the greater emotional involvement or stress in an actual performance.” The institute found that Mr Shapirra is in good cardiovascular condition and well able to cope with the demands of his highly volatile life-style.