I love a visceral sound, the kind that hits you in the belly.

Pulse as an active means of expression, Stravinsky and Beethoven are the two masters of that.

I actually don't like this term, "classic." It's wrong, but we don't have a better word at the moment.

Anyone who composes and conducts at the same time is immediately suspect, because he must be faking one or the other.

With American orchestras, in particular, because they play in such huge halls, getting a true pianissimo is very hard.

As we watch TV or films, there are no organic transitions, only edits. The idea of A becoming B, rather than A jumping to B, has become foreign.

In the range of music that we play - roughly 300 years' worth-there really are more similarities than differences.