Antony Hermus Conductor
As a boy I was given a tape of Vladimir Horowitz playing Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto with the New York Philharmonic. It made a lasting impression on me. There are other recordings with more correct notes (you could probably compose a whole new concerto from Horowitz’s mistakes!) but it is utterly beautiful, and no modern pianist gets deeper into the mind of the composer than he does. There is so much subtle gradation in dynamics and colour and so much emotional power.
I’m addicted to Wagner’s . When I was invited to stage it myself, I was introduced to Richard Trimborn, a noted teacher, opera coach and Wagner expert. Richard had been a close friend of the conductor Carlos Kleiber, and had assisted on his performance of at Bayreuth Festival. Inspired, I started listening to the Kleiber’s live 1976 recording. He didn’t want it to be made available commercially, but I am so glad that it was. It
