“Alan Gilbert believes that conducting an orchestra is a process of ‘letting go together,’ ” states a Wednesday (12/14) article at NYC classical radio station WQXR based on a conversation between Gilbert and host Helga Davis. “When the energy between a conductor and an orchestra is right, he says, it’s almost impossible to tell who’s leading who. After eight seasons at the helm of the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert is ready to step down. In his wake, he leaves a formidable legacy of experimentation that expanded not just what an orchestra can and will do, but who it’s for. Gilbert and Davis [spoke] about what he means by serving a community, the moments in performance he lives for, and how maybe he could’ve benefited from throwing tantrums and showing his stress more.” On successful conducting, Gilbert says, “You have to set something in motion that is so inevitable that it goes that way and you don’t have to continue to do anything in order for it to go that way, because that is the only possible way it could go.”
Posted December 15, 2016
