James Tobin wrote:
>Many of us who have done that would consider it snickeringly stuffy to
>insist on it. As for "Maestro," wasn't it Toscannini who initiated this
>appelation? And he meant it too, in common with the other tyrant conductors
>of his generation, who attempted to exercise almost a slave-master
>relationship over the players.
Maestro is an Italian word. When studying beginning Italian, I learned
that in Italy, one always addresses people by their titles, whether that's
"Dottore", "Professore", "Maestro", "Signore", etc. To use a first name
for people other than family and very close friends would be considered the
height of rudeness. So I doubt Toscanini invented the practice; I expect
he merely insisted on the common courtesy to which he was accustomed.
Myself, if I'm working under the leadership of a musician in a musical
endeavor (or under anyone's leadership in non-musical endeavors), I'm going
to err on the side of formality. In the US, I think "Mr." or "Ms." or
"Dr." or "Professor" is sufficiently formal, and I doubt any American
conductor would be offended to be addressed as such. I might use "Maestro"
if others in the project did, but otherwise I'd probably feel silly using
it.
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
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