Interpersonal Skills Are Overrated, Anyway

There are plenty of superstar conductors in the classical music world, but you won’t see orchestra musicians bowing at the altar of too many of them. That makes the success of Valery Gergiev all the more remarkable. “Many say he is a tough, even merciless, taskmaster.” But somehow, at the end of the day, the musicians Gergiev leads look past his terse style and praise his artistry.