I've come to the conclusion that a long personal relationship is next to impossible for me. Ultimately, music is a possessive mistress.

There is no 'perfect' in music. If I ever came off the stage and felt it could not be better, it would then be time to quit.

We are a global society, and one does not have to be from Germany to give a great performance of Beethoven.

I use my hands like a sculptor, to mold and shape the sound I want, to clarify.

I'll know I'm reaching the total American market when I'm asked to do a video for MTV.

I'm not particularly lucid after a concert. I'm not very lucid before, either.

The conductor is the artistic leader and sometimes cultural arbiter of his or her community. It is their leadership that is looked to and should anything go wrong, they are the persons taking most of the heat.