There's not an orchestra in the world that doesn't have weaknesses. None of us can play everything well. The repertoire is just too big.
In some ways I believe music is the more convincing communicator of ideas than words. For instance, we can hear of Kordaly and Bartok and recognise them as Hungarian, but very few of us speak Hungarian, but the music itself speaks to more people.
The role of an orchestra in the 21st century isn't just playing, it's about developing future audiences and performers.
An orchestra knows during the first two minutes of the first rehearsal whether or not they are going to enjoy the person on the podium.
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