More and more couples are having this negotiation or discussion, but I'm still amazed at the number who aren't and where the cultural norm sort of kicks in and they just assume that mom's got to be the one who stays home, not dad.

It wasn't that I ever knew I'd be at the Met for 20 years, or 30 years, or 40 years, or anything like that

We're in the midst of an evolution, not a revolution.

Its just that, when the orchestra look at me, I want them to see a completely involved person who reflects what we rehearsed, and whose function is to make it possible for them to do it.

And so, little by little, I gradually divested myself of pretty nearly all of the guest conducting I used to do, because I was at the same time working in the places like the Met, where I could work in this sort of depth.

I was lucky that I met the right mentors and teachers at the right moment

Everybody blames the culture without taking responsibility.