Andris Nelsons

“Shostakovich was one of the great symphonists of all time, and maybe the last great symphonist.”

“Bernstein was everywhere - Vienna, London - and everyone admired him. Of course he loved Boston, and he did so many great things at Tanglewood. He was the best example of what a conductor should be.”

“Music is something so mystical, so unexplainably a thing you cannot put in the rules or boundaries, you know? It speaks about our feelings about questions of life and death. It goes absolutely beyond any kind of rules.”

“The Soviet Union had only one party. You couldn't express yourself freely; you couldn't admit belief in God. And yet this terrible regime understood that human beings have to express themselves, through music, even at a bad level. All kids studied music automatically, just as they did maths or languages or sport.”

“People talk very much about, 'What can we do with the orchestra in the 21st century?' We should think about the 21st century, of course.”

“I feel too young in 2018 to take over the Berlin Philharmonic as the successor to Simon Rattle.”

“Music is a universal thing with no boundaries, whether you play inside or outside.”

“I think it's very important to be part of the Boston society and the people who live in Boston.”

“I always see Beethoven as having been influenced by Haydn. Yet he started a revolution - not just to be different, but also because he lived in a revolutionary era.”

“Music is such an important part of society, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra offers such great quality, and we just want to share it.”

“It's so important which musicians we choose for being in the orchestra.”

“Wagner always opens you a second breath, and then you go on, and you are absolutely into his musical world, and you can't stop, and you can listen for four hours, five hours, six hours, and then you are like in his mystical hands of his music. He's such a great poet of music.”

“AWe musicians can influence, and are responsible to influence, human hearts when we perform. We have to touch them.”

“All composers who came after were influenced by Beethoven, even during his lifetime, both by his personality and by his music. He was a father figure for generations.”

“You have a great result if the orchestra trusts the conductor, and the conductor trusts the orchestra.”

“Anyone who loves football can also be involved in music; the two aren't mutually exclusive.”

“Some people will always gossip.”

“Birmingham did a truly remarkable thing in building Symphony Hall, which is the finest concert hall in the U.K. and one of the best in the world. The city has supported music without putting on the brakes.”

“I think 'Rheingold' has symbolic meaning of what happens in the world when you're running after the Rhine gold, after the gold. It doesn't end very well. It's kind of a reminder of the values of life, and I think 'The Ring,' in a way, is kind of a prediction of Wagner of what would happen in the world.”

“Music goes beyond nationalities - it's a language which you can understand in any country.”