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. Arturo Toscanini

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

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

"Why do you always insist on playing when I'm trying to conduct?"
5. Sir Thomas Beecham

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

"A tenor is not a man, but a disease." - Hans von Bülow
7. Sir Thomas Beecham

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

"I hate you all because you destroy my dreams!" - Arturo Toscanini
9. Sir Thomas Beecham

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

"I am a pig!" - Arturo Toscanini