Symphonic orchestras have almost become a glut in the market.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Ergo, because of the money problem, it is probable that our orchestras will soon go down in quality.
But still as compared to many, many orchestras in the world, I think you find a lot more new music and living composers on our programs than many other places.
I've been lucky to conduct the very best orchestras in the world: New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Berlin, the London Philharmonic.
We can't afford big symphonies but we commission works that sound rich and symphonic because of the nature of the instrumentation and the people we work with.
But a large symphony orchestra basically is a repertory company and it has a very enormous repertoire and it is important for the performers to be able to know how to shift focus so that they instantly become part of the sound world that a particular repertoire demands.
I endeavor that all orchestras I conduct sound Central European.
When facing symphonic orchestras which have played some works five thousands times, you have nothing to do.
It is against the spirit of our non-discriminating times to openly prefer one sort of music to another, so let's just say that hearing grand orchestral music in a public place is exhilarating in a way that hearing popular music never can be, if only because, in a popular music age, a full orchestra is less familiar to our ears.
I also work with the regular orchestras in Munich, Germany and other similar orchestras.
I will never master this craft. Orchestras are very, very forthcoming with me.