Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
One thing we were looking for from the start was players who really fit together, who sounded in tune.
I first heard Mahler's second symphony aged 11 in Liverpool, and it inspired me to become a conductor.
Israel gives the West Bank water twice a week! One way of promoting good would be not to ration water.
I hate playing the piano! And it's so hard to fight for Beethoven's soul! But that's what I have to do!
With us tonight is William Warfield, who is with us tonight. He is a wonderful man, and so is his wife.
I wouldn't say I've changed my mind. I changed some of my natural habits, some of my natural character.
You can't have Bach, Mozart and Beethoven as your favorite composers. They simply define what music is!
You might say that Richard Wagner was the Queen Victoria of Europe. He had musical children everywhere!
Everyone wants immediate success, immediate celebrity, and that doesn't produce what used to be artists.
There is such a suspicion in today's world of people who do more than one thing, who aren't specialized.
Muti is going to do the Alpine Symphony this year. He will do it well because it is not very well known.
Teaching music to children is the most important thing in life, next to parenting, that a person can do.
If Beethoven were sent to nursery school today, they would medicate him, and he would be a postal clerk.
I'm not shy in the spotlight. I might seem austere and even arrogant, but far from it, I'm actually shy.
I believe if you're not completely in love with what you're doing, you'd better find another profession.
I was sent down to Cuba. Everything had been prepared with the help of Congressman Johnson and his staff.
Somehow, conductor as this superhuman conduit between the masters and the masterpieces and the immortals.
They've really got to recognize that all of us bring some of our family issues to work and our work home.
Thank God for movie music. It preserves the rich vocabulary in classical music through challenging times.
The awful thing about a conductor becoming geriatric is that you seem to become more desirable, not less.
It wasn't that I ever knew I'd be at the Met for 20 years, or 30 years, or 40 years, or anything like that
I know nothing about this subject, but I do have prejudices, which I am more than happy to share with you.
I have been long associated with British music. I have favoured it as my alternate music next to American.
On the other hand, I have devoted so much energy to reach the top that I accept the stress of being there.
There are three orchestras in Munich, all world-quality, in a city of one million. Yet every hall is full.
There are certainly talented instrumentalists coming from India. I see them performing all over the world.
I kissed my first girl and smoked my first cigarette on the same day. I haven't had time for tobacco since.
Can't you read? The score demands 'con amore', and what are you doing? You are playing it like married men!
We are a global society, and one does not have to be from Germany to give a great performance of Beethoven.
The voice collects and translates your bad physical health, your emotional worries, your personal troubles.
When facing symphonic orchestras which have played some works five thousands times, you have nothing to do.
You have to channel the interpretation and performance into 100 people. And with the audience, the critics.
I think Beethoven means dissonances to be more stressed than consonances - it's the shock tactician in him.
A woman's life in the orchestra is not as long as a man's; she is just not as good at 60 as a man is at 60.
An American orchestra doesn't want to play more than it has to. I respectfully disagree with that attitude.
I think we are in the process of getting the word out, and we haven't done very well yet. But we are trying.
Conductors must give unmistakable and suggestive signals to the orchestra, not choreography to the audience.
So I've never found there was any particular separation between the two cultures at all, musically speaking.
Mozart has written opera, symphony, sacred and chamber music - not to mention his piano and violin concerti.
I am often critical of Israel's policies when in the country, but then feel defensive of them when overseas.
Throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference, accepting that you may not understand how or why.
Conductors must give unmistakable and suggestive signals to the orchestra - not choreography to the audience.
Young singers are much better educated musically, much better informed, through discs and videos, than I was.
Music first and last should sound well, should allure and enchant the ear. Never mind the inner significance.
I would never have become music director of the Chicago Symphony, which would have been an extremely sad loss.
The challenge is not so much to change the sound. The challenge is to connect and to create something special.
Success means pursuing a career that inspires you-brings passion to your life and totally absorbs your energy.
This extraordinary group has absolutely captivated my imagination, knocked my socks off - what more can I say?
All these people who scream about Kashmir being an armed camp are in fact responsible for keeping it that way.
I'm so sorry for you; your lives have been so easy. You can't play great music unless your heart's been broken.