In the passage about conducting, Igor Stravinsky expresses his total disrespect for conductors and their personalities. He exposes this irreverent attitude by his comparisons of conducting to such deceiving professions as politics and acting. Continuing his attack on conductors, he also presents the actual flaws in their character and outlook. Relentless in his criticism, Stravinsky uses his images throughout the passage to reveal his own disrespectful and scornful attitude toward the art of conducting. Specifically, he reveals his attitude through his comparison of conducting to the duplicity in politics, and his reference to conductors as egotistical and mindless individuals.
             Igor Stravinsky first exposes his scornful attitude by comparing conducting to politics, a profession that is usually associated with lying and deceit. He first states that "conducting, like politics, rarely attracts original minds... and ... is more for ... the exploitation of personalities." This statement shows his irreverence, since he implies that conducting does not require intelligent individuals, but rather individuals that are able to deceive other people's thoughts and ideas. Furthermore, this comparison of the process of conducting to "exploitation" in politics also shows his disregard since the conductors are relying on their skill of taking advantage of other people. Stravinsky continues that conductors and politicians are merely in it "more for the making of careers ... than a profession for the application of exact and standardized disciplines." Therefore, both politicians and conductors engage in their profession solely for their own appearance in society. Stravinsky also disgusts conductors since they do not possess the devotion to follow the "disciplines" or specific rules and guidelines that normally govern a respectable profession. Furthermore, he adds that "the successful
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