Conductors On TV (But Not This)

“It is about time television shone a light into the conductor’s rostrum. No musical function involves so much mystification. Why is it that two men, making the same gesture, obtain a completely different sound, and why do they almost always have to be men. Is it a suspension of disbelief on the part of musicians and listeners, or is there some inscrutable transmission between baton and orchestra that eludes neutral observation?”