Dear Gilles,
I'm aware of the fact that conductors are sometimes addressed
as 'maestro'. To me this is not the same as addressing a medical
doctor as 'doctor' as this only refers to his academic title and
to most people 'doctor' is emotionally neutral anyway.
'Maestro' IMO is used to express ones respect for someone
who has proven to possess exceptional capabilities as a musician.
There are only very few people in the world that I would personally
address this way. The reason is not rudeness or bad upbringing,
but simply the fact that traditionally there is a lot of guru-ism
in the classical music business, where people are put on pedestals
where they don't belong and everything they say has this wonderful
ring of Truth to it that us lowly mortals are unable to grasp.
I have never heard 'maestro' used in conjunction with voice
instruction. In voice instruction I have found an even greater
number of 'gurus' than among conductors. Thus I find it hard to
take seriously anyone who uses this term as abundantly as you do in
the articles on your web site (which I have all read by the way)
and it could very well be that I'm not the only one.
Respectfully,
Wim Ritzerfeld
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