People still call me the eternal amateur. After all, professionals are supposed to be able to conduct everything. But I can't unless I feel some connection inside. Conducting is not an end in itself for me.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I was planning to remain an amateur for a while.
I guess, as a conductor, one goes in and out of fashion. Your career starts with a bang, everyone thinks you're wonderful, and then with middle age, something happens and you go into the wilderness.
Conducting is a strange thing to teach.
By the time I was 22, I was a professional. A young and flawed professional, but not an amateur.
I've dubbed myself as an amateur, not because I work in different field, but because I do what I do for love.
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 will prove that a great conducting career is expecting me.
I frequently find after a rehearsal of a performance that I have more breath, and can walk better and climb stairs better than I could before. It's as if I've expanded my lungs doing it. Basically speaking, conducting is quite a healthy profession.
I just want to stay professional.
Basically speaking, conducting is quite a healthy profession.