It was the final of Maestro on BBC TV last night and I have been glued to every episode. Despite being extremely wary to begin with at the thought of a bunch of amateurs plunging in to try their hand at something so complex as conducting, a skill that requires years of study to master, I became entirely fascinated by just how much the participants managed to learn and the different ways in which they approached the challenge. They all became more and more serious about it and more entranced by the music they were dealing with. Alex James was the most disarmingly direct with the orchestral players, asking them despairingly how he could make them go faster; Jane Asher applied herself to the task with implacable, intently studious dedication; Goldie disarmed everyone by seeming to be able to do the thing entirely instinctively with unmistakable, innate musicality. And the winner, resoundingly the right choice, was Sue Perkins, who, once she stopped gurning and mugging to camera to hide her nerves revealed herself to be both passionate and hugely accomplished.
The only major problem with the programmes was that they failed to show anywhere near enough of the process of learning and studying that the competitors went through. That was the interesting part, far more so than the point where they got all tussied up in unsuitable clothing and clambered on to the podium.
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