It is the technical part of the performance which is troubling me more than the musical part.

You might say that Richard Wagner was the Queen Victoria of Europe. He had musical children everywhere!

I'm a Persian Jew, and we don't speak Hebrew.

The New York Philharmonic is a tremendous opportunity, a great orchestra.

There was an opinion expressed in the newspapers that, after 20 years, maybe the Israel Philharmonic should consider asking me to leave. I thought they might have a point, so I asked my orchestra. They told me overwhelmingly that they wanted me to stay.

Open rehearsals reach people who might not otherwise hear the Philharmonic - people on fixed incomes, people who can't move easily at night, students.