Any conductor who tells you that if he is approached for the directorship of the Chicago Symphony that he's not interested in it, you know perfectly well he's lying.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
A conductor can't be too arrogant with an orchestra and try to impose himself too much.
On the other hand, when I give it closer thought, I realize I'm not enough of a dictator to conduct an orchestra because it requires a pretty awful person. When you read these biographies of famous conductors, they are all awful people who fail in their private relationships.
I mean, the great secret is that an orchestra can actually play without a conductor at all. Of course, a great conductor will have a concept and will help them play together and unify them.
If he's a true symphony artist, he knows better than that because he knows that the only truly creative musician is the jazz musician.
The director is a bit analogous to the conductor of a symphony orchestra. It's a collaborative adventure.
I always imagined that to bring an orchestra to play together is not enough for a conductor.
I think conductors do spend too little time with their orchestras.
Is it not the business of the conductor to convey to the public in its dramatic form the central idea of a composition; and how can he convey that idea successfully if he does not enter heart and soul into the life of the music and the tale it unfolds?
In truth, I became a conductor because deep down I wanted to conduct Brahms's four symphonies and Richard Strauss's tone poems.
The orchestra confides in me about their music director or their conductor, and I've never seen a conductor that's been liked by everyone.