This Conducting Thing Happened. In 1983 I

The Philharmonic Became Such A Journey And Adventure In My Life, And A Deeply Satisfying Thing.

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.

Somehow, Conductor As This Superhuman Conduit Between The Masters And The Masterpieces And The Immortals.

Stravinsky Is Masterly: His Harmony Is Conceived So Precisely That It Can Only Be The Way It Is.

You Know, In Some Ways Conducting Is Counter-intuitive. It's Like Winter Driving In Finland - If You Skid, The Natural Reaction Is To Fight With The Wheel And Jam On The Brakes, Which Is The Quickest Way To Get Killed. What You Have To Do Is Let Go, And The Car Will Right Itself. It's The Same When An Orchestra Loses Its Ensemble. You Have To Resist The Temptation To Semaphore, And Let The Orchestra Find Its Own Way Back To The Pulse.