How does your concert day look like? Are there any rituals that you always perform before the concert or on that day?
Yes, I always take a 30 minutes nap. I usually go for a walk for 45 minutes. And I try to be at the hall 45 minutes before the concert starts, and then I walk on stage when nobody is there.
What gives you the most joy in performing live?
The feeling of communication with the people, even if there is no word being spoken. When you're on a stage, for instance, sometimes the music stops because there's a general pause, or it's very soft. And then you feel the public, even if you do not hear a word. And you know that this vibration is between the public and the orchestra and the expectations of people sitting in the public, that is... I like that very much.
Who has been the greatest inspiration in your artistic life?
It's not easy. I mean, there have been many, many inspirations, but if you need to single out one, I would say Rafael Nadal, because his dedication, concentration and devotion to the point that he never loses focus. He is always striving for the best and never for prestige, always for being the best at his profession. Other than that, in my profession, I would say Carlos Kleiber was certainly a very inspiring figure to me.
As a child, you sang in the Dresdner Kreuzchor. Why didn't you continue down that path?
Oh, this is a very good question. Thank you. I could have continued. And I remember when I was playing piano in the opera in Dresden, because that was my first position as a musician: to be a pianist at the opera, to be a répétiteur. Sometimes we had to replace sick singers, and we had to sing for them. Now, as you can tell, not every pianist is able to sing well, some would not even be able to sing in tune. But I sang with my full voice and then some of the very well-known singers, they told me “Well, you should rather sing”. I was always nostalgic about it because to be on stage and to sing would have equally appealed to me. And I guess that I have one idiosyncrasy, one personal trait and it is that I'd like to have some influence over the quality of things, how they are done. So, then I thought, as a conductor, I can communicate with many people at the same time and I have some say in how things are done and can make sure that they are done the right way. So, I would have more influence on the overall product. Because, as a singer, you always depend on things. Maybe it was my concern for striving for the best quality that I thought it was better that I take it into my own hands. And then I also think about the many different possibilities you have with the symphony orchestra and the choir, you have so much different music. And as a singer, I had the feeling I would be somehow limited to one thing. But I still think about it sometimes, whether this was the right decision. What I can most certainly say is that my singing background has certainly helped me in my conducting career - to always look for the right expression and to a cantabile singing sound in orchestras, choirs and opera companies.
Do you think that the key factor in tonight's concert repertoire is an “interpretation” of the style of the era, or a personal interpretation?
I do not think it has to be necessarily separated. First of all, I don't think we can copy exactly what they have done because we were not around and we have limited access to recordings. Secondly, especially the music of Richard Strauss speaks for itself. I don't think that the symphony orchestra nowadays sounds so much different from what they performed at the time. But having said that, I would always try to respect what they conveyed in their scores because, they wrote the scores in order to make sure that all their wishes are respected. And I'm very respectful with this material always. But of course, there's always a little element where it is down to your personal, how can I say, view upon things. Some things in music cannot be written down, some things are impossible to express in writing. So how many milligrams of ralentando or accelerando do you actually do? Nobody can control this. No composer has ever controlled this. So, this is probably down to the moment. But I also think that classical music and especially those two composers, it's not about executing a plan. Classical music is about communication between the orchestra, between the musicians, between the orchestra and the public, between the conductor and the orchestra. So, I think this is much more important than having one bar, 1 milligram faster or slower, if you know what I mean.
On the internet, we can find that you have a pilot's license. Is this true, and you if had not been a musician, would you have become a professional pilot?
Yeah, it could have interested me. My issue was that I had a fear of flying. And at the same time, I was fascinated by planes all my life. So, this mixture of flight anxiety, being fascinated with it, and the need to use airplanes in my profession, made me have to do something about it. I mean, I cannot sit in the plane and be afraid all the time I fly. So, I took flight lessons. I did the private pilot license (PPLA). I have not done the instrumental yet. But it helped me to overcome my fear of flying and to understand everything better.
[02-2026]
