Kevin Sutton wrote: [abridged] >... I often have scores on the stand which I don't open, and I have seen >Bernstein conduct for ten minutes and then flip 50 pages of score over. >Go figure. For me the test of whether one is "morally" entitled to conduct concerts from memory is whether or not one could rehearse from memory. Solti ALWAYS conducted from a score, and Giulini, NEVER, as far as I can tell. Karajan, I think, never.. Maazel can and does. Rehearsal numbers and bar numbers memorized, of course... Toscanini did. Ormandy, Szell, likewise. I don't memorize for a number of reasons, mostly having to do with not performing any given work often enough to memorize it....I discover that the fifth time around on a standard piece over, say 20-25 years, it has become memorized, but can't figure out any way to force the issue. I haven't lost sleep over it since I was a kid, however.. Joel