Klarinet Archive - Posting 001136.txt from 1998/05

From: ROBERT HOWE <arehow@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Re: Symphony Conductor income
Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 17:53:12 -0400

Two comments, maybe three.

1. The term "Maestro" is in my opinion demeaning to the musicians who
make the music. The stick makes no noise. "Conductor" is a better term
and has no old Italian connotations of superiority.

2. Check out the book The Maestro Myth, ? publisher, about 1995, has a
chapter on earnings that claims that....

3. although accurate information is hard to get, it appears that FIRST
RATE conductors (Dohnanyi, Maazel, Muti etc) make multiple millions of
Dollars--scores of millions of Francs!!, billions of Lira!!--each year.
Leonard Bernstein's estate was valued at more than $100,000,000. Not
bad for a silent job. Second bassoonists and lower desk 'cello players,
who work much harder than the conductor, should be so lucky.

No, I'm not a Socialist, just unhappy with the concept of a "Maestro".

Robert Howe

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