Conductors

[missprim]

Something I've been curious about for a while now is, does a group of musicians/ orchestra need a conductor.
I saw this clip on a different thread and noticed there was no conductor yet the group of musicians played really well.
Whenever I watch programmes on the TV where an orchestra is playing, the players hardly ever look at the conductor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb_jQBgzU-I

[emmie]

That clip was from a truly astonish Proms concert from 2007, and i did manage to record it, the first half of the concert was classical, the second was latin american music, at the end the musicians, including dudamel, turned their jackets inside out, the so displaying the reverse side, in their national flag colours, it was spectacular, and people still talk about it even now.