Somehow, conductor as this superhuman conduit between the masters and the masterpieces and the immortals.

The sort of commercial parameters of classical music changed after the [World War II] , and the whole industry became more backward-looking.

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

Orchestras have become used to the emphasis on the separation of layers, of the ultimate precision and clarity.

The underlying process in Northern music tends to be slower and continuous, whatever's happening on the surface; in Southern music the underlying process is always faster.

I think truth as an idea should be left to the philosophers and perhaps religious leaders and politicians, and professional people who deal with that idea.

I can't imagine how many first performances I've done, perhaps 500. Some of them have been very good, and some of course very bad.