Anyhow: I haven't sat with an instrument before a conductor, but I have been in the chorus. A huge part of their work happens in rehearsal, not at the concert.
when you see them gesture to the horns or woodwinds, he's already told them what he means by that, and they've written it in their scores.
Also, a full 80+ symphony orchestra is so spread out that the speed of sound is significant. Even with perfect visual conducting, as a player, I have to ignore that those guys on the other side of the stage always, always, are just... a... little... behind... I must instead stick with the conductor.
Sometimes they're just actually behind too! I'm a professional organist, and recently made my continuo debut with a pretty high level orchestra. I wanted to make a good impression, so at the rehearsal, my eyes were glued to the conductor, he gave a clear downbeat, I came in with him...and was at least half a second ahead of everyone else. I was eventually able to figure out how to adjust, but those first few entrances were rough.
After the rehearsal, I mentioned it to my boss, and he confirmed it's his experience with orchestras as well. They're somehow able to come in together but definitely behind what the conductor shows, while organists are used to staying exactly with the beat pattern. He said it's particularly annoying for things like the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony, where the organ's supposed to come crashing in on a huge chord directly with the orchestra.
I was in the audience at a big musical in SF, and I noticed that there were monitors on the side walls out in the house facing the stage. The monitors were showing the conductor.
There are other monitors out in the wings. Everyone has to watch the conductor, or they'll get behind.
An orchestra is a system. A human system, so there are a minimum of five factors to manage: the humans as individuals, the humans as a group, the system itself, the context in which the system exists, and the interaction of humans, the system, and their context.
The conductor acts as a manager, leading the orchestra from both a governance view (outside of performance) and an operational view (during performance).
Not quite: https://www.thepiano.sg/piano/read/conductor-killed-conducti...
Anyhow: I haven't sat with an instrument before a conductor, but I have been in the chorus. A huge part of their work happens in rehearsal, not at the concert.
when you see them gesture to the horns or woodwinds, he's already told them what he means by that, and they've written it in their scores.