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Mozart in the Jungle is great fun and a bit (just a bit) like the conservatory life and gig life I experienced in NYC as well as the well-known music festivals I attended during the summertime.

Muti I know personally since my father in law was in the wiener philamoniker orchestra and they are good friends, great guy. My favorite is Gustavo Doudamel though, because he knows how to bring fun in the concert hall.

There's a really great biography about Toscanini I read that goes into detail about his phenomenal memory. He did use scores but as his eyesight failed later in life he was more dependent on his memory. The link below describes certain situations regarding his memory:

https://labs.la.utexas.edu/gilden/files/2016/04/Marek.pdf

Eh I disagree about the Marin Alsop/Tar connection. Alsop slammed the character portrayal in Tar and the character in Tar's upbringing isn't quite the same as Alsop's, who struggled to get into conducting for quite some time, although she was an accomplished violinist. Alsop is probably the most well known female conductor at this time, but other than being female and a lesbian, there's not a lot in common with the Tar character. There are a couple of rather well-known male conductors I'd equate to being more like Cate Blanchett's character than Alsop, gender aside.

Thank you!

How do you manage so many things and people and feelings? Singing is a very personal instrument. How do you feel working with singers who devote themselves to their craft has effected you personally?

Do your friends call you the Maestro?

What's the role of the first violin from a conductive perspective? How does the conductor and first violin interplay during a performance?

If you are looking for a composer for a new opera for your company, what do you look for in a person and their music?

How easy is it for you to pick out the sour note, if there is one during a practice?

LOL I’ve never seen someone recommend Wozzeck as a first opera for someone to see. That’s wild. Everyone usually says La Boheme or Magic Flute. You’re coming in hot with the deep cuts!

Not many people know it, but the maestro actually had a second career outside of music, he was a noted luggage designer.

I mean, surely you've heard of.......Karajan luggage?

I'll just see myself out now.

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Why turandot is flop these days?(I mean what's the reason behind that?) In short, why classical stories are flop these days?

Sometimes it’s better to continue with temporary players than to commit long-term to someone who won’t work out. This could be because no one at the audition played at a level befitting the rest of the orchestra, or more likely, their personal style or sound isn’t compatible with the rest of an ensemble. At a major orchestra, the winner of an audition may be with the ensemble for 20-30 years or more, so it’s a big decision.

That’s not what nepotism is. Often, there are contractual or policy reasons that a current member of the orchestra is automatically advanced to the final round. An argument for this can be made that a current member has already won a position in the orchestra and does not need to prove themselves through the preliminary rounds.

Outside candidates who are known to be very good players and already have successful careers will often be pre-advanced to semis or final rounds because it’s how you get them to show up in the first place. You want to have best possible pool of candidates for any given position, but there’s significant reputational risk for someone with an established career to have even a slightly bad day and not make it through the prelims, so most would pass if not pre-advanced.

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Is it true that Leonard Bernstein's friends call him the maestro in social situations?

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As a conductor, what car of the train is your favorite? I always liked cabooses, mainly because caboose is a fun word to say. 😎

And silly train jokes aside, what has been your favorite opera performance to conduct thus far? (As an example, whether it's due to the piece/score, interesting location, fun memory, someone you got to interact with, special moment etc. )

New to opera I tell people to do Carmen and Don Giovanni. You already know about all the music in Carmen and so can ease into to dynamic play of orchestra and singer and story. Don Giovanni is just fun AF with dramatic and sublime melodies and a fun fun story.

Those two are your beachhead.

I just made it into my first audition-only adult choir as a 45 year old (Soprano I). Do you have any recommendations for performing?

How does opera singing differ from traditional choral or musical singing in technique? It sounds very different.

Also, the soprano behind me has a piercing tone that sounds a bit flat some of the time. We sound terrible together on the high notes. Should I just sing more quietly when we sing the notes so we don’t clash?

Thanks for doing an AMA, I think the is the only time I’ve commented in one!

The site Operavision has a changing selection of free opera, if you'd like to have a look and just see if anything sounds interesting (that's how I got into watching it, during the pandemic). Puccini's Tosca, La Bohème, Bizet's Carmen are 'safe' classics but sometimes people (like me) end up loving the weird stuff, so it can be hard to say.

Are you afraid of dying ironically by electrocution?

Fuuuu, jealous!

Been a fan since i stumbled over ahknatan through the old Columbia music tape clubs. Mesmerizing music