One my friend – conductor worked as an assistant to famous conductor H. von Karajan with Vienna Philharmonics orchestra. He told that these eight years were very useful for his “Resume”, that he highly appreciated the chance to be close with such a great conductor. However, in these 8 years he learned nothing, because… it is not possible to learn from such a perfect orchestra. “They will play brilliantly under any conductor” – he said. In his opinion no one would notice any difference if some policeman or fireman will “conduct” this orchestra one day instead of professional maestro. However, he learned a lot later from his work with very bad orchestras.
Yes...I have observed conductors rehearsing great choirsMy teacher played beautifully (so he wasn't creating a parrot)...I really needed very basic instructions on how to achieve what I could hear in my head/heart but had no idea how to do.