I have accumulated so many experiences, so much, that I want to be able to realize so many things. This is why I have basically given up most of my positions.

When I played my first concert with an orchestra, I was eight years old in Berlin.

I used to conduct the last opera in Berlin on Sunday, get on a plane on Monday to Chicago, and start a rehearsal that same night, if it was a performance week.

I cannot be music director at La Scala and at Staatsoper. This would be unfair to one of the two institutions.

Controversial means somebody who makes people think. And if you are afraid of people who will be against you, you might as well stay home and do nothing.

The problem with listening to music today is that there's so much of it everywhere. We've got used to hearing music without actually listening to it.

I have loved Elliott Carter's music for many years.

In Arab culture, music is for celebration. You don't play music at funerals.

The greatness of a musician is measured by the degree of fanaticism he brings to his playing.

There is too much employer-employee relationship in America. I wish the musicians would feel that many decisions have to do with them and not delegate everything to management or to the board or to the committee. This is why you get a sense of pride in some of the European orchestras: because they are part of the decision-making.