Who or what are the most significant influences on your musical life?
In terms of significance, it has to be Benjamin Britten and also Bernard Haitink whom I assisted when I was at Glyndebourne, but basically one learns from absolutely everyone one works with and for. As I say to my students, you take what you want, and leave what you don’t want. I never stop learning, or being influenced and made to think. When I do stop being made to think, then that will be the time to give it all up.
What, for you, is the most challenging part of being a conductor? And the most fulfilling aspect?
The most fulfilling thing is that I have the most brilliant life; it is so rich in the sense that I go to amazing places, work with amazing people and make amazing music. For instance, thinking about Mozart, Handel and Britten (I have a much wider repertory but these are the main composers that I perform), there is barely a week goes by when all three do not go through my head, my hands and my heart. So it’s a fabulous way of making a living and I do realise, of course, how lucky I am to be still doing this, at my great age! There is definitely a price to pay for it, which is that it is no fun being away from home; and that challenge increases the older one gets. Travel is relentless and you have to learn how to navigate that personally and psychologically, and I have got quite good at that now; but speaking now after four months essentially on the road with a few days off here and there working with fabulous people on great projects, well it just feels so good to be home.
Is there one work which you would love to conduct?
There are two that I am burning to conduct, and I am beginning to wonder if it will ever happen. One is Peter Grimes and the other is Der Rosenkavalier.
Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in?
I have to say that Severance Hall in Cleveland is one of the most beautiful concert halls I have ever seen, and if you are performing with the Cleveland Orchestra which is one of the greatest orchestras on the planet, the joy cannot be greater.
Who are your favourite musicians/composers?
Handel and Mozart are now in my bloodstream, particularly as I have written about them, and Britten of course. But I would also put Monteverdi in there too.
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?
Trust the composer. Serve the composer.
Jane Glover will conduct the London Mozart Players in ‘Mozart’s Women’ at St John’s Smith Square on Thursday 11th April 2019 at 7.30pm. The programme celebrates the women who touched Mozart’s life and inspired him to compose some of his greatest works. Further information
‘Mozart’s Women’ included piano virtuoso Victoire Jenemy, who would have performed his Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat K.271; his first love, soprano Aloysia Weber – inspiration for the ravishing aria ‘Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio’ (which reaches top E); Aloysia’s sister Constanze – later Mozart’s wife, for whom he composed the soprano part of his Mass in C Minor; and English soprano Nancy Storace, the muse behind the aria ‘Ch’io mi scordi di te?’ (which includes a solo piano). Not forgetting the composer’s mother, Maria, who accompanied Mozart through Europe in 1778, dying shortly after the performance of his ‘Paris’ Symphony No. 31, K.297.
Alongside the London Mozart Players, coloratura Soprano Jennifer France will hold audiences spellbound with a couple of Mozart’s most beautiful arias, while hugely acclaimed 17-year-old pianist and current BBC Young Musician Lauren Zhang will breathe fresh life into Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat
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