my liking. I find that about four weeks a year in Germany is enough. In America I am lonely away from my family, nor are their orchestras as good as they think - they lack identity. In London , you feel you are in the world's musical centre.
'Of course, as I have learnt , the secret of an orchestra is very often the hall in which it plays. That 's part of the Concertgebouw 's success, and that of the Boston Symphony. Acoustics can be a trick y matter, as I 've learnt at Glyndebourne. If we perform Verdi there, we have to be careful not to "overblow" it because the theatre is small and the sound is dry. On the other hand , it is surprising how much the auditorium can take. So much depends on the production. I've learnt that you can only make music decently in the pit when the production is right. In a bigger house you can get away with things; not at Glyndebourne. '
His cooperation with Peter Hall and John Cox is the basis of his rapport with Glyndebourne. 'Peter is a fascinating character. As a member of the staff said , Peter is like a laser beam: he just hits the right spot . His way of working may seem eccentric. He spends the first week of rehearsal asking questions of his singers , but in a sense he is motivating them. With Cosi he came just one day for the revival; he simply said that the second half of the second act was to be played simply, without any jokes. " Just keep in mind that Mozart was in love with two women , and married just one. " That was the laser beam at work .
'I just sit there watching him for the first few days. Sometimes I become bored, but somehow the ideas are getting under my skin . He'll turn to me all the time with questions . Often J have no answer, but that doesn't matter because Peter himself is so musical. So is John Cox - in quite a different way . He never forces the music out ; he 's wonderful at adapting himself to it. l 'm now spoilt . I'll never find another opera house where the producers are so committed, but so little engaged with theories o r politics . I know and feel there have to be compromises even in art , but I'll never compromise if I think a producer is destroy ing the music.'
Preparation at a house such as Covent Garden, taking on a revi val rather than a new production , can be a very different experience. When he agreed to conduct Ba/lo , Haitink first assured himself that he appro ved of the Schenk staging. Then , knowing that his star singers might arrive late (in the event rather later than he expected), he was pleased when Christopher Renshaw came to see him in Paris with photos and the book of the production . As usual , Haitink wanted to be fully prepared. 'I prefer to work with an existing production that shows it can survi ve than with a very controversial new one.' A touch of nati ve caution there perhaps. ·some colleagues won 't go to a house unless they are granted a new production. That attitude is wrong. There have to be revivals . So I am pleased to be coming back for Covent Garden 's Don Carlos - in French with , I hope, British singers. '
Should he kowtow to the requirements of star singers? 'I know you 're thinking of the slow tempo for Amelia 's prayer in Ba/lo . Well, Montserrat is a very special animal. I like her very much, but she needs all the nursing you can give her. If you help her you get something back from her ; if not ,
566
