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Here is Riccardo Muti rehearsing Debussy's "La Mer". Muti uses solfege during rehearsal. It works remarkably well and he's obviously got perfect pitch (which isn't always the case with conductors):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxQHCFBlju4
People often commented on the fact that Kleiber never used solfege for rehearsals. Kleiber was like Beecham - neither conductor was proficient on a musical instrument which is something we regard as a prerequite for the modern conductor. Kleiber did start learning the piano and "contrapunkt" comparatively late but musicians who worked with him said you always knew when Carlos was playing the piano - there were so many wrong notes!! Nevertheless, Carlos Kleiber was a phenomenal musician. It was Muti who said of Carlos, "he was the greatest". I've seen the excellent Muti on the podium twice and both times the way he walked and comported himself reminded me of this (see if you can guess who is the figure of fun):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX1ljYx3g3k
Oh dear, fancy poking fun at classical music!!!
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