So, first you have to be able to play with a metronome. Then you take your freedom. If you play in an orchestra, you got to watch the conductor, he is like a metronome, but it is more difficult because he can change rhythms.
Muti is going to do the Alpine Symphony this year. He will do it well because it is not very well known.
I can conduct better than I count.
I'm from Italy, the home of Vivaldi, Rossini, Puccini. When I stopped playing and became a manager, football became like a beautiful piece of music to me - and the players, an orchestra.
All the conductor has to do is stand back and try not to get in the way. Mozart is doing all the work.
I can count on one hand the number of conductors-composers-arrangers that I enjoy working with, and at the top of that list is Mack Wilberg. I feel like I've known Mack forever. I'm just nuts for him.
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.
I love orchestrating music and conducting and being on Broadway.
Over the years it has been my privilege to lead performances with Saint Louis, the National Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra and so many other wonderful organizations.
I can't even touch another conductor's baton. The center of gravity, the feel of the handle, puts me totally off.
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.
