Oh... like I'd know. Still, this happens to be something I've thought about over the years so here goes.I think there are some performers (masters), who have taken their art to such a high level that they will be immediately recognized as masters of what they do, even by observers who are not enthusiastic about their particular art form. They are instantly recognizable by both their work and their manner. Performing artists who's work I've actually seen who I believe fall into this master category include Mikhail Baryshnikov, B.B. King, Bill Monroe, Itzhak Perlman, and Pete Seeger. I've seen many, many performers in my life, some of them truly wonderful, but these are the masters and I believe we are very fortunate to have them among us.
Master groups may exist but usually realize their greatest achievements because of a master who leads them. The Chicago Symphony was a great orchestra but became a "master group" under the baton of Sir Georg Solti. One didn't need to be a connoisseur of classical music to appreciate the difference.
Most commercial venues seek acts that can command the higest ticket prices and fill the most seats (crowd pleasers) but I think the true masters always fulfill that requirement. There are performers with great and rare skills who, nevertheless, will not become masters because they lack some mystical ingredient such as sensitivity or the ability to touch their audience through their performance. I suspect that few mastersgo unrecognized just because they are so easily recognized and so universally sought. They may go unrewarded, but not unrecognized.
Of course it's common for the PR machine to laud performers as masters. That's what it's paid to do. And the PR machine may sell some tickets, films and recordings that otherwise would not be sold, but PR isn't what tells your gut that you're in the presence of a master. You just know. I've been "totally blown away" lots of times but very rarely am I in the presence of a master.
"Of course that's just my opinion... yours may differ."
- Mark