Howard Fine’s reputation precedes him. Whether you’ve seen him riding a motorbike around Hawaii or Alpine mountain ranges with Richard Lindstrom, or know him as one of the most influential and renowned ophthalmologists of the last half-century, he has shaped cataract and refractive surgery more than most. He has not only been a clinical investigator for nearly 50 ophthalmic products, but has also personally designed (or redesigned) nearly 40 ophthalmic instruments, and introduced almost 40 surgical techniques. His first degree – Engineering, from MIT – has certainly helped inform how he’s practiced and innovated in ophthalmology over the years. But there has been another external influence that has profoundly changed how he practiced ophthalmology: orchestra conducting.
How did you get involved with orchestras?
I’ve always been interested in classical music, but I was especially drawn to the conductor because he seemed to be bringing the music out of the orchestra and the vocalists. I always told my wife that I’d give everything else up, if I had that ability. When I arrived in Eugene, Oregon, in 1970 to start my practice, it was the year of the city’s first Oregon Bach Festival. It started out as a symposium for conductors who were interested in learning from a world-renowned master conductor, Helmuth Rilling, who was representing the International Bach Academy from Stuttgart, Germany, and is viewed as one of the leading interpreters of Bach – he has memorized everything that Bach has written, and conducts without a score!My wife and I have attended every Bach Festival (bar one) since 1971. Each year, in addition to concerts, there are classes, with the biggest being the master conducting class. Accomplished conductors from all over the world attend, and all are there to spend time with Helmuth Rilling. As a surprise birthday present, my wife arranged for me to become an auditor in that year’s Oregon Bach Festival master conducting class – no small undertaking: the class takes place over 14 days and each session lasts 9 hours. The morning consists of a three-hour session where conductors and soloists are instructed pretty extensively by Helmuth Rilling. In the afternoon, there’s a full orchestra and chorus rehearsal, and in the evening there’s a concert, at which time Helmuth Rilling explains what Bach was trying to achieve, some of the interesting aspects of the music, what’s different about the music. A segment of the conducting class directs a portion of that evening’s concert – and the students in the master conducting class sit up on the stage during the rehearsal and the performance. So we get to look at the conductor, and we can understand what he’s trying to do and see how he works. What really struck me as amazing was Helmuth. He was a superb teacher and communicator, never critical, and he always explained what was going on. The areas that he covered were all important; he always emphasized precision, control and clarity. He taught the mechanical aspects of conducting, which is an aesthetic as well as an athletic event: the left hand is used mainly for rhythm, the right hand for entrances and exits and emotion and other directions like higher, lower, softer, louder, faster, slower, longer, shorter. He doesn’t command or tell people what to do, so as much as he gives them an invitation to participate. And this is something that you really feel as he’s doing it. When he gets everyone on the same page – highly focused and intensely engaged – a musical masterpiece is the likely result.
