“One big problem is the mindless adulation bestowed on famous conductors and directors. Such sycophancy doesn’t lead just to the tolerance of abuse, it mythologises the misdeeds so that they become part of the mystique surrounding ‘the maestro’.” (For example, Georg Solti, who’d seduce his way through the female choristers at the Royal Opera house and buy them white fur coats afterward.) And, writes Richard Morrison, “that was decades ago, but what has changed? In one acclaimed present-day ensemble female violinists rise up the ranks if they sleep with the conductor. It’s as simple, and jaw-dropping, as that.”