I love to read different books on completely different subjects at the same time. I cannot focus on one. I read a few pages of literature, then I jump to philosophy and at the same time I'm reading biographies of Mahler.

Los Angeles is a very special city. It's a great ethnic mix, a great cultural mix.

I love to travel, but sometimes it's nice to stay in one place.

I think the atmosphere of a Prom concert can change your life, in the best way. It's so deep, the feeling you have there. The audience is so close, and there are so many of them, that you feel they are almost embracing you.

The challenge is not so much to change the sound. The challenge is to connect and to create something special.

It's not that people don't like classical music. It's that they don't have the chance to understand and to experience it.

For me, Venezuela is very important, not just because it's a place I go to conduct, but because my family is there - my wife, my parents and my musical family.