Ormandy was a quick learner of scores, often conducting from memory and without a baton. He demonstrated a formal and reserved podium manner in the style of his idol and friend, Arturo Toscanini. One orchestra musician complimented him by saying: "He doesn't try to conduct "every note" as some conductors do." Under Ormandy's direction the Philadelphia Orchestra continued the lush, legato style originated by Stokowski and for which the orchestra was well known. Ormandy's conducting style was praised for its opulent sound, but also was criticized for supposedly lacking any real individual touch. In the book "Dinner with Lenny", containing one of the last interviews of Leonard Bernstein, Ormandy is criticized by Bernstein for applying the same lush sound to every piece that he conducted, even if the composer of the piece in question did not call for it, a criticism that Bernstein voiced indirectly in "The Sound of an Orchestra", one of the "Young People's Concerts".