Maestro, according to Chambers dictionary is an EMINENT composer or conductor (orchestral)

IMHO the word has a certain servile connotation ... and is the exuberant gush of a devotee who regards the composer or conductor as a pinnacle (perhaps divine) of human aspiration.

Or in today’s classical musical parlance ... is the word "maestro" interchangeable with "orchestral conductor "? (ClassicFm Radio)

Maybe my Chambers is dated ... what do you think?

In the USA, we tend to limit maestro to someone of very high achievement in the performing musical arts, although I have heard usage where maestro is applied to the culinary arts. Generally, we tend to be rather sloppy in our use of vocabulary, so I wouldn't put much stock in it.

Thanks for chipping in from Boppard-on-Rhine John,
I totally agree with your reading of maestro ... in the new SA we have previously handicapped folk who need time to pick up some of the niceties of the English language ... on ClassicFm radio we have newcomer hosts who vary their introductory pitch of the music being played by alternate use of maestro and conductor ... not pretty!

The last time I tootled through Boppard on a BSA Bantam motorbike at the age of 28 ( eons ago) I was still drunk with the experience of having visited the Bonn birthplace of Beethoven ... having walked up that steep stair to the first floor atelier (converted) and allowed my mind to imagine the deaf composer conjuring masterpieces at that Broadwood piano.

But then there were so many more delights in following the flow of the great river ... further down ... Mainz, Heidelberg (shades of "The Student Prince"), Strasbourg ( trip across the bridge to swap the east menu of heavy Germanic Swartbrod for some delicious French bread), and then swinging into Switzerland at Basel ... heading for Venice and the ultimate prize Rome.

But then isn’t the European Spring a breathtaking renaissance ... good luck with your travels .

Thanks, Monday is the unfortunate date of early return.

I remember my voice teacher in college, an "old-school" Italian tenor, wanted us students to call him "Maestro".

That lasted for about a week, until he got tired of our exaggerated Italian pronunciation:

"my-ASSS-tro"