Freeze

Conductors Daniel Barenboim, Georg Solti, James Levine, Riccardo Muti and Michael Tilson-Thomas started as pianists. John Adams conducts not only his own music, but also the works of other composers, as Mendelssohn, Berlioz and Wagner did in the past. Stravinsky, Copland, Vila Lobos and Miklos Rozha conducted only their own works at concerts and recordings. Several singers, such as Dietrich Fischer-Discau and Placido Domingo, switched to the podium from the stage, and at least one choreographer, Mark Morris, often conducts performances of his own ballets.