The Key To Classical Contests? Keep The Public Out Of It

The BBC’s summer reality TV program, Maestro, has attempted to teach celebrities how to properly conduct a symphony orchestra, and against all odds, says Rafael Behr, it actually appears to be doing so. “This system subverts a basic premise of most reality TV by abandoning any pretence that the public’s judgment is worth something… Is that elitism? Yes. Musical virtuosity is the province of an elite and there is nothing morally abhorrent about that.”