In certain moods, conductors can be very mischievous about each other. Case in point? A few years ago, Riccardo Muti told me a story about Valery Gergiev. Meeting the Russian maestro by chance at an airport, he said: ‘Valery, I hear you conducted 37 concerts in a single month. How is that even possible?’ Without a moment’s hesitation, Gergiev replied: ‘Because I use several orchestras, Riccardo.’
That encounter sprang to mind last month when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
