ABSTRACT
Mark Elder was Music Director of the English National Opera between 1979 and 1993, during which time he initiated radical changes in its artistic policies and standards that brought it international recognition. From 1989 to 1994 he was Music Director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, USA, and from 1992 to 1995 Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The Music Performance Research Centre asked Mark Elder for his views on several issues, including the future of opera, translations of libretti, attitudes to productions, and the role of the conductor past and present. Listening to recordings of some of the greatest conductors gives him ideas, challenges him. It may not be his way, but it has its own integrity. In the last ninety years, there have been many fine conductors. In today's world, the concept of greatness' all too often seems to be exaggerated by commercial considerations.
