No, my musical credentials are not the equivalent of Barenboim, I’m just a concert goer; but the title of this thread is Musicians YOU don’t like, and I have just expressed my opinion about this musician. I don’t try to convince anybody about any Universal Truth.

How I do set my standard? I have been going to concerts for more than 30 years, and believe me: I know what I like and what I don’t like. "I really think you should take a long hard look at others out there before passing judgement". Thanks four your advice. Let's see: Abbado, Jansons, Haitink, Temirkanov, Harnoncourt, Chailly, Boulez, Davis, Barshai, Thielemann, just to speak about people that are still active… all of them brilliant conductors and true musicians, capable of leaving their personal stamp on whatever they do...

"Merely "good" pianists and "mediocre" conductors would hardly have survived a 40 year plus career as Barenboim has." Quanto mi piaci mai, semplicità... Yes, mediocre conductors can survive, as well as excellent conductors have been ignored thoughout their lives and bound to conduct second rate orchestras.

Despite my opinion about him, I have attended Barenboim’s concerts many times, always with the hope of discovering the reason of his success, and which contribution such a mediocre conductor could bring to orchestras named Chicago, Vienna or Berlin…Quoting oisfetz, he knows how to sell himself.