What’s your musical guilty pleasure?
My “music” away from my real music is listening to football commentary on Radio 5.
Did you ever consider a career outside of music?
Until I was 15 I was convinced I would play football for Scotland. Youth orchestra summer courses changed that and I found another passion. I’m still a political junkie - and people say I can talk! - so I might have become a very unhappy politician.
How do you listen to music most often?
On the iPhone with headphones. However, I inherited a vast collection of old 33s and 78s from my father-in-law which rest in the loft. If I ever retire I am sure I’ll find a treasure trove of amazing recordings.
What was the first ever record or cd you bought?
Beatles’ Help on a 45, then Focus’s Sylvia, eventually raising the bar to Albinoni’s Adagio for strings (which I don’t think is by Albinoni?) We are talking late 60’s early 70’s here.
What single thing would improve the format of the classical concert?
Getting rid of tails and the word “classical”. We all believe that the music we play is miraculous because it can express every emotion of the human condition, which is why it is relevant to our lives today. But to go about it wearing late 19th century costume is ridiculous!
If you had to pick one work to introduce someone to the wonders of classical music, what would it be?
Mozart’s Duettino Sul’aria from Marriage of Figaro but it would have to be accompanied by watching Shawshank Redemption. Not the greatest piece ever – that’s an impossible question, but this moment in the film comes close to expressing what we feel as musicians about the power of music.
Which conductor or performer of the past would you like to have worked with?
In my former life with Chamber Orchestra of Europe we were blessed to make music with some of the true greats, such as Claudio Abbado, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and before that in the European Youth Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan. But I would have loved to have experienced Carlos Kleiber.
What’s the most unusual place or venue you’ve ever performed?
A Mozart wind octet concert in Quito, Ecuador - altitude 9,000 feet. We had oxygen masks backstage prepared by the local fire brigade who were waiting for us after every number.
What’s been your most memorable live music experience as an audience member?
Last night I was watching a rehearsal of Idomeneo at Garsington Opera. Listening not only to our wonderful singers and orchestra but also to the chorus, probably all in their early 20s, singing with passion and joy gives one hope for the future.
We’re giving you a time machine: what period, or moment in musical history, would you travel to and why?
To be in Vienna at the end of the 18th and into the 19th century and meet and see Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert at work would be incredible - they’re some of the greatest human beings that have graced the planet. And what an extraordinary period of music!
What is the best new piece written in the past 50 years?
I don’t know how to quantify “best”, but we live in a truly special creative period of living composers – Tom Adès, George Benjamin, Brett Dean and others are the real deal.
What’s the most overrated classical work? - ie is there a warhorse whose appeal you really don’t relate to?
I could live happily without ever hearing Carmina Burana.
It’s late, you’ve had a few beers, you’re in a Karaoke bar. What do you choose to sing?
I’d rather be hanging upside down on a cross.
Garsington Opera’s summer season (Eugene Onegin, L’Italiana in Algeri, Idomeneo and The Creation) runs until 17 July.
