The Israeli conductor spills on moulding the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

What kind of repertoire do you plan to be working on with WASO?

For me it starts with Haydn – everything starts with Haydn. String quartets, symphonies, piano trios, concertos, you name it. Mozart as well of course. I play piano, so Mozart is very important for me. And Beethoven. We’re doing a Beethoven symphony cycle because it’s great for everybody – for me, for the orchestra, for our marketing department, for the Perth public.

What is so important about Beethoven’s symphonies for you?

Beethoven is the perfect way for me to get results quickly – especially if I work on the entire cycle rather than spreading the symphonies over the years. The basis of Romantic German playing is Beethovenian playing. You cannot do a Mozart cycle – it will not get you anywhere. If you do all Beethoven’s symphonies you can set a style very quickly – and I have to work quickly because I’m not here for enough weeks in the year. I want us to be able to do it American style – put a concert together in two rehearsals, dress and concert – efficiently, quickly, but...