Boston Symphony Orchestra music director Andris Nelsons on his love of Wagner, putting music in context and its mystical quality

Seeing a Wagner opera when he was five made Latvian Andris Nelsons want to be a conductor. At 41, he is music director of two of the world’s leading orchestras

He talks about trying to ‘catch the spirit’ of a piece, how music ‘reflects what we feel, what we fear’, and the Boston players’ ‘beautiful and rich sound’

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A trip to the opera when Andris Nelsons was five turned into a lifelong passion for the eventual musical director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Photo: Marco Borggreve

Published: 8:00pm, 30 Jan 2020Updated: 10:29am, 31 Jan 2020

Andris Nelsons started dreaming about becoming a conductor at the age of five, when he saw a performance of Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhauser in his home city of Riga, in Latvia.

By the time he was 25, Nelsons’ dream had come true. After being mentored by notable Latvian conductor Mariss Jansons, he was hired as the principal conductor of the Latvian National Opera Orchestra in 2003.

Nelsons, who now holds the position of music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). has been described by the British newspaper The Guardian as “one of the most exciting and sought-after conductors working today”. He is noted for the vigour and youthful vitality he brings to his interpretations – he’s 41 and in a profession that usually favours those a decade or so older.

In parallel with his job at the BSO, Nelsons is also the kapellmeister (a title which roughly translates as “music master”) of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in Germany.

Andris Nelsons is the music director of Boston Symphony Orchestra. Photo: Marco Borggreve

Nelsons began his musical career as a trumpet player in the Latvian National Opera Orchestra, and says working as an orchestral musician has helped his career as a conductor. Conducting is a discipline in itself, and not all conductors have the experience of playing in an orchestra to draw on.