Concerning to the theme:Maestro.As Donald satz wrote,is an allarming spread
of that word.Not only in USA is happening.As an example,in my country it is
deteriorating a lot.  Sometimes when some pupil of the conservatory tell
me:Maestro,i feel proud of it:But that "magic" sensation is "alive" for no
more than 5 seconds,because it make me remember that pupil will call
maestro to every teacher of the conservatory,even to the worst of them.
But the worst of all: Now is happening some people call Maestro to people
with minor proffesions like the plumber,the electrician,etc.  Of course
into the context of the Castilian language the word maestro is more
associated with the idea of professor than in English maybe,but in anyway
it is pauperize little by little.  In the specific case of English i think
people shuold be twice careful in the use of that word since it doesn't
belong to English,is suppose to have a limited and a very special reason to
use it.  And speaking about conductors, very few of them deserve to be
called Maestro.  Once more: each word has two meanings: the linguistic
one,and /or the trascendental one.  Regarding the trascendental meaning of
the word maestro(which is very complex) conductors like Jeffrey Tate can't
be called maestro,for two reasons:because the spinal desease(spina bifida),
and for the open homosexuality(scandal).It can sound ridiculous for some
people, but if we are speaking of real meanings of words,the word Maestro
in it's real acception involve a lot of "virtuosism",and for that reason it
can't be used so easily.  Regards.

Gerardo:.