Orchestras have become used to the emphasis on the separation of layers, of the ultimate precision and clarity.

With American orchestras, in particular, because they play in such huge halls, getting a true pianissimo is very hard.

I don't believe in an annual dose of film music for the sake of it being film music. If we program film music, it will be because there is a real artistic reason for doing so.

I've learned a lot from the masters of orchestration, like Ravel and Stravinsky.

When we're at the end of The Rite of Spring or of a Bruckner symphony, I want people to feel the music physically.

Once you get over the first hill, there is always a new, higher one lurking, of course.