But the most important test is to take them on tour and see if you can bear to spend time with them. |
One thing we were looking for from the start was players who really fit together, who sounded in tune. |
Mozart has written opera, symphony, sacred and chamber music - not to mention his piano and violin concerti. |
One of the great virtues, apart from the pleasure of performing these works, is that it's opened up an entirely new, expansive repertoire of American Jewish music. |
So in one leap we had gone from being a friendly society to something almost professional. |
As you know, there are certain languages that lend themselves very easily to vocal use. |
There are some sounds that English singers find quite difficult to manipulate. |
The awful thing about a conductor becoming geriatric is that you seem to become more desirable, not less. |
If the (British) Arts Council give you money, they also tell you how to spend it. |
So I've never found there was any particular separation between the two cultures at all, musically speaking. |
I think the quality of something like the Beveridge, for instance, will have a life of its own. |
This American Jewish music is a new experience for us at least consciously. |
Initially we performed in halls with capacities of 1,000. |
Before, we may have taken part in it without even thinking it was American Jewish, but in this case, I think, you have now perhaps pointed us in a direction of a new interest in this repertoire. |
I would like new people with new ideas to come into it and change it. |
Taste is changing, style is changing, and players' abilities are changing. |
We don't want other people poking into our artistic pie. |
Music is a continuum and the modern and avant-garde composers of today will be part of the standard repertoire 30 years from now. |
So I think we got together as the Academy to give ourselves that sort of responsibility and to play well. |
If we perform the romantic repertoire we need more musicians. |