Perhaps you’ll recall the episode from Seinfeld when Bob Cobb, a conductor for The Police Orchestra, insists that everyone call him “maestro”–and only “maestro.” The pretentiousness of the suggestion makes for some good comedy, that’s for sure.
But occasionally the honorific title is fitting. Here’s one such instance. Above, watch Leonard Bernstein conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, leading them through Haydn’s Symphony No. 88 … with only his eyebrows and small facial gestures. No baton, thank you. A maestro indeed.
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Leonard Bernstein’s Masterful Lectures on Music (11+ Hours of Video Recorded at Harvard in 1973)
Hear What is Jazz?: Leonard Bernstein’s Introduction to the Great American Art Form (1956)
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