Vinyl or digital?
I have wonderful memories of the vinyl recordings my father used to play at home – Il barbiere di Siviglia (Abbado, Berganza, Pray, Alva), Le nozze di Figaro (Bohm, Prey, Mathis, Janowitz, Fischer-Dieskau) and Beethoven 9 (Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic). I still have a big collection of vinyl, especially historical performances of Italian opera, but I don’t often have the chance to listen to them because I am rarely at home. But I consider these recordings to be some of the most precious things I own. As a student I bought lots of CDs, and nowadays I always listen with headphones on my phone or laptop to digital music. But of course, nothing is better than the live concert experience and live music making.
What was the first record you bought?
My infatuation with Wagner began when I was 14 and I bought the Ring Cycle with Levine and the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. My piano teacher lent me the scores, I brought them home in a large suitcase and I then listened to the complete cycle twice in a week. It was a great experience, but I don’t think I would have the courage (or time!) to do it again.
... and what was the last piece of music you bought?
Ten days ago I was in London and went to the Schott music store – one of my favourite places. I bought Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique in the Barenreiter edition, Debussy Jeux, Dukas L’apprenti Sorcier, Ravel Ma Mere l’Oye (complete) and Scheherazade Overture de feriee – I am conducting a lot of french repertoire in the coming season.
What’s your musical guilty pleasure?
Although I conduct a lot of operas, and the core of my symphonic repertoire is from the 19th and 20th centuries, I was an organist before I started conducting and I can’t live without playing some Bach on a daily basis. I know it sounds more like a “purification” than a guilty pleasure, a way to purge my operatic sins! I am in love with the six Trio sonatas and the Passacaglia & Fugue in C Minor.
If you had time learn a new instrument, what would it be?
Definitely the cello. I studied it for three years before I changed principal studies to organ and piano, but I regret it. Maybe the cello is the closest instrument to the human voice – the best instrument in the world.
Did you ever consider a career outside of music?
The only other job I would consider outside of music or the arts in general is to be a park ranger or a geologist. There is nothing I love more than to be outside and amongst nature.
What single thing would improve the format of the classical concert?
The best thing we can do is to allow it to continue! If nations continue to cut subsidy, if we cannot offer the audience same quality because our budgets are reduced, if we cannot invest in outreach and education, then the audience will decline and we will be finished. It is a travesty that culture seems to come last on the agendas of so many countries. The world must fund one of its finest art forms to the level its dignity requires. Let us continue to share our great music, support our opera houses and orchestras, and support music education in schools. It is in the hands of our leaders to make this choice.
If you had to pick one work to introduce someone to the wonders of classical music, what would it be?
I would take him or her to a live performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Classical music needs an “active listener”, so before the concert it might be helpful to introduce them to the wonders and emotions of this immortal masterpiece. From the complex dramatic architecture of the first movement and the rhythmic ostinato of the second movement, to the purest metaphysical music ever written of the third movement, up to the majesty and joy of the final movement.
And the next night I would take everyone to the opera to see La bohème!
What is the most unusual venue you’ve performed in?
Conducting at the Arena in Verona was unforgettable. The sheer weight of history surrounding us and the audience holding small white candles evoking thousands of fireflies made it magical. There is also a naturally perfect acoustic notwithstanding its majestic vastness.
What’s been your most memorable live music experience as an audience member?
Two musical epiphanies particularly come to mind. First, Carlo Maria Giulini conducting Schubert and Brahms at La Scala in 1997. He was a real Maestro in the grandest sense of the term, and his noble and sincere interpretation seduced me completely. And at end of that amazing concert I went backstage to congratulate him. He told me “music is simply an act of pure love”, which made the evening even more special.
In 2008 I saw Yuri Temirkanov with his St Petersburg Philharmonic conducting Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony: the way he caressed, phrased and shaped the music was unbelievable, and the rich and unique sound of that orchestra was unforgettable.
We’re giving you a time machine: what period, or moment in musical history, would you travel to and why?
Vienna at the time of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. It all began then, and it is so important to understand the historical and social environment in which our hero-composers lived.
What was the last piece of music you danced to?
I danced (just a bit!) on the podium the last time I conducted the Symphonic Dances from Bernstein’s West Side Story. Otherwise off the podium I danced only at my wedding, 18 months ago, to Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel.
What do you sing in the shower?
Highlights from Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Pagliacci, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Die Zauberflote… (which I guess in their entirety would make for a very long shower!).
Opera Rara’s recording of Bellini’s first opera Adelson e Salvini featuring the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniele Rustioni is released on 3 March.
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