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The best conductor insults

They're refined and sensible on the podium, but these musicians are responsible for some pretty brutal put-downs. Uncover the greatest catty remarks and withering comments from some of the best musical minds in the world.

  1. Conductor insults

    1. Arturo Toscanini

    "God tells me how the music should sound, but you stand in the way." - Arturo Toscanini

  2. Conductor insults

    2. George Szell

    "He tried Debussy's La Mer once. It came out as Das Merde." - orchestra member on George Szell

  3. Conductor insults

    3. Sir Thomas Beecham

    "Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands and all you can do is scratch it." - Sir Thomas Beecham

  4. Conductor insults

    4. Eugene Ormandy

    "Why do you always insist on playing when I'm trying to conduct?"

  5. Conductor insults

    5. Sir Thomas Beecham

    "It's like a lot of yaks jumping around!" - Sir Thomas Beecham on Beethoven's Symphony No. 7

  6. Conductor insults

    6. Hans von Bülow

    "A tenor is not a man, but a disease." - Hans von Bülow

  7. Conductor insults

    7. Sir Thomas Beecham

    "English sopranos sound as if they subsisted on seaweed. English tenors sound like yawning giraffes." - Sir Thomas Beecham

  8. Conductor insults

    8. Arturo Toscanini

    "I hate you all because you destroy my dreams!" - Arturo Toscanini

  9. Conductor insults

    9. Sir Thomas Beecham

    "Her singing reminds me of a cart coming downhill with the brake on." - Sir Thomas Beecham on a soprano

  10. Conductor insults

    10. Arturo Toscanini

    "I am a pig!" - Arturo Toscanini

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