In the June issue of BBC Music Magazine, James Naughtie writes about an interview with Valery Gergiev. They talk about the influence of Russian composers and his upbringing and education. They talk about his education under Ilya Musin and how he won a conducting competition Musin didn't want him to enter.
For me, the most interesting piece of the article was where Gergiev says he was left with a recording of a Tchaikovsky symphony by Musin and asked to write down the second viola part. When he couldn't, Musin said he had to learn how to listen. I found this interesting, because I have only recently discovered how listening to different recordings of a pieces will bring out different parts in the texture. Equally, I have started listening to pieces with the score in front of me and it makes you realise how many subtleties there are hidden away in an orchestral texture; it then creates a new listening experience for a piece you may have thought you knew very well.
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