following and i can see in their eyes how much they need music. and this is what we provide, and it gives me pleasure to simply make music for people. before we end, i want to get you to consider the future. you have said that the symphony orchestra, the very idea of it, has to continue constantly to evolve and develop, or it will simply become a museum. you are still full of energy and creativity, so where are you taking the idea of the orchestra and classical music next? i think a symphony orchestra must reform in order to survive. i would go even further, the danger is not that an orchestra becomes a museum, the danger is that an orchestra dies out like the dinosaur.
i think a symphony orchestra must reform in order to survive. i would go even further, the danger is not that an orchestra becomes a museum, the danger is that an orchestra dies out like the dinosaur. really? yes, because they must reform, they must go with the age, they must recognise what the new generations need. and the danger is that orchestras play a limited repertoire the last maybe 200 years, the music of the last 200 years. now what will happen in 500 years, will we still listen to those 200 years? i don t think so. don t you, really? no, i think we have to reform. the idea that you mentioned earlier, playing beethoven s ninth, i mean, to take that
a0 years you ve been leading, running the budapest festival orchestra and you, it seems to me, you ve done it in a very different way from the more traditional approach of the maestro conductor who imposes his will on an orchestra. that is not your approach, is it? you are more collaborative and, in a funny sort of way, you expect more from your musicians, because you don t just sort of treat them as tools to be used. i think there is a lot of creativity in people, and it s very unfortunate if they have a job playing in an orchestra and all they are asked to is to follow instructions. it limits their potential. and i always thought how wonderful it would be to have an orchestra where the creativity of the individual is encouraged, ratherthan suppressed.
it limits their potential. and i always thought how wonderful it would be to have an orchestra where the creativity of the individual is encouraged, rather than suppressed. do you sometimes wish that classical music was a little less rigid, a little less formal, because you ve talked about the dangers of the form becoming too tied to frozen rituals and to an older audience. and ijust wonder whether in the course of your career you believe you ve been able to change that a little bit. the works we perform, they are sometimes much more exciting than they seem in this ritual, what you said. for example, if i may
of creativity in people, and it s very unfortunate if they have a job playing in an orchestra and all they are asked to is to follow instructions. it limits their potential. and i always thought how wonderful it would be to have an orchestra where the creativity of the individual is encouraged, ratherthan suppressed. do you sometimes wish that classical music was a little less rigid, a little less formal, because you ve talked about the dangers of the form becoming too tied to frozen rituals and to an older audience. and ijust wonder whether in the course of your career you believe you ve been able to change that a little bit.