I'm often asked why orchestras play behind the conductor's beat. The effect is puzzling for audiences and a nightmare for inexperienced conductors.

Most of the best orchestras have developed the habit of playing slightly late, because it can produce a more beautiful sound than playing clinically together with a clear beat. The larger instruments, with their longer strings and tubes, need time to speak; otherwise an orchestra sounds top heavy and lacking in depth. Many good conductors encourage the habit by smoothing out any impulses or “clicks” in their gestures, allowing an orchestra to find its own ensemble instead of dictating every beat. Young conductors often feel totally thrown by this delay. The great German conductor Rudolf Kempe had some good advice: “Don't wait for the orchestra,” especially when you're moving from the first beat of a piece to the second. If you wait for the sound, you'll delay the second beat and the tempo will be too slow.

A guest conductor can't change an orchestra's timing in two or three rehearsals. It's not worth trying to do so, provided the musicians play together and it's not one particular section (like the brass or the double basses, sitting furthest away from the conductor) that is late. You just have to get used to it. It often feels like playing a large cathedral organ where the pipes are at the other end of the building.