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

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

Wagner's philosophy had absolutely nothing to do with Bruckner. Bruckner hadn't written a single word against Jews. Wagner's book on the Jews was one of the most infamous books of the 19th century.

In truth, I became a conductor because deep down I wanted to conduct Brahms's four symphonies and Richard Strauss's tone poems.

Alles ist nach seiner Art:
an ihr wirst du nichts ändern

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