“[So whether you're devoted to the classical standards, crave something new, or look to deepen your understanding of a new work or an old favorite, the Philharmonic has your ticket to excitement:] The concert hall, ... is a place for controversy, for people who will stand up and scream 'We hate it!' and people who will stand up and scream 'We love it!' A major orchestra has to put forth the great masterpieces that have stirred, and continue to stir, assent and dissent.”
“The Beethoven Experience provided the opportunity to solidify the relationship between the Orchestra and me, the Orchestra and me and the public, between all of us and the city of New York, because Beethoven after all is a really amazing point of reference.”
“Our goals are clear: maintain a superb standard of performance of core classics, renew and refresh our tradition with contemporary music of value and relevance, reach out to all segments of our heterogeneous society, tour nationally and abroad as ambassadors of the true face of America.”
“So many things can hinder one. Think you are up in a hot air balloon with sandbags. As you get older, keep throwing those sandbags overboard. The more sandbags you throw, the higher you soar, the higher the balloon goes.”
“An interpreter brings to life music in the form that it is given to him, that is, a constellation of black spots on a page. But if the interpreter doesn't identify with the music and can't be one with it, then no number of directions [from the composer] will be of any help.”
“Our Orchestra must also continue to play its leadership role in the community and in our nation. The young look to us to provide substance in place of dross, emotional depth in place of shallow titillation.”
“To be passionate in today's world is not politically correct... Nowadays we are supposed to cope. This was not Mahler's problem. He saw it, he heard it, and he expressed it. He was a kaleidoscopic, Olympian figure.”
