The Maestro Myth
by Norman Lebrecht
It’s simply the best book on conductors you have: I don’t know any other that so honestly pricks the pomposity of the whole thing, and contextualises it, and introduces gossip (in the best possible way) as well as anecdotal evidence that sheds a huge amount of light on these characters we think of as mythical beings. Mainly it’s about how this monster was born, because for many orchestral players conductors are monsters, and to many ordinary punters they’re figures of complete bafflement.
