ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 examined how, when Costa arrived in London late in 1829, arrangements for controlling the orchestra were in flux. Lax habits persisted, in the audience as well as the orchestra. An illustration of Covent Garden before the 1856 fire shows members of the audience walking around and chatting during the performance (Figure 4.1). This chapter describes the system that Costa imposed during his first 20 years in London. Its essence was the combination of many measures – not only the use of the baton, but contracts and pay-scales, rehearsal practice, orchestral lay-out, acoustics and coordination of performances. Together these elements amounted to a new system operated by a new breed of professional conductor-manager, of which Costa was the London prototype.
