Conductors

I see conductors have been getting a bit of a kicking in the Guardian today. They're an easy target, I suppose the musical equivalent of a cabinet minister. And it's true, quite a lot of them are paid a ludicrous amount of money. But I'm not sure they're as reviled by orchestral musicians as the article suggests. A friend of mine plays in the RPO and despite their gruelling schedule he loves the job primarily because he gets the chance to work with conductors like Charles Dutoit and Daniele Gatti. If a long-serving rank and file musician can still be inspired by the man (or woman) on the podium then clearly there is still a role for good, well paid, conductors.