"LEOPOLD!"
Leopold Stokowski, George Solti. And in a different venue, so to speak, John Williams and especially Ennio Morricone. Bernstein, even.
Love Muti. Had the pleasure of meeting him when an Italian-speaking association I once belonged to had him as a banquet guest, and we all got to go by his chair and speak to him. He was weary but tolerant of our awful American Italian pronunciations, I must say.
"LEOPOLD!"
Well, I once met a man who was very high up with the Philadelphia Orchestra and he told me all about what an ass Muti was. For example, before one performance the orchestra’s largest donor wanted to say hello in his dressing room. Muti refused to see her. The executive had to go to the donor and make excuses. Of course he should have greeted her, but he was too important.