Salzburg was where he was born and where he was rejected.

The collaboration with the musicians of the New York Philharmonic is sheer joy. The Orchestra is so professional, so prepared, so motivated. I float from day to day, concert to concert, masterpiece to masterpiece, supported by the sound of the New York Philharmonic.

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.

You encourage, you push and pull. You look out at your colleagues and say, 'Yes, you can.' To bring [performers] past the limitations of their own potential is leadership. All fine leaders conducting from the podium have that. Emotion is what it's all about. Music-making without emotion and passion is nothing. I'm never looking for a perfect performance, I'm looking for an impassioned performance.

I think I infuse the music with a new passion. Part of this is because I have fallen in love: I am in love with the New York Philharmonic. The chemistry has just been right. Beyond expectation.

We are doing a program this season of music by Schubert, Schoenberg, Rachmaninoff, and Ravel, music which is totally -- on paper -- incompatible,