Charles Hazlewood
Charles Hazlewood
Charles Matthew Egerton Hazlewoodis a British conductor and advocate for a wider audience for orchestral music. After winning the European Broadcasting Union conducting competition in his 20s, Hazlewood has had a career as an international conductor, music director of film and theatre and a curator of music on British radio and television...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth14 November 1966
motivation inspiration believe
[As a conductor] there has to be, between me and the orchestra, an unshakable bond of trust, born out of mutual respect, through which we can spin a musical narrative that we all believe in.
betrayal long enemy
For too long, musicians have been the greatest enemy of music. Their lack of desire to proselytize is a kind of betrayal.
hate fighting piano
I hate playing the piano! And it's so hard to fight for Beethoven's soul! But that's what I have to do!
absolute change connect horror might music people resistance terrible tremendous
There is a terrible conservatism, like a cancer, right in the heartlands of music-making, a tremendous resistance to change, an absolute horror of the idea that more people might connect with music. That infuriates me more than I can say.
classical francisco john parallels pop san terry velvet
Parallels between classical and pop are not new. The whole San Francisco movement of John Cage and Terry Riley went hand in glove with what the Velvet Underground were doing.
bring classical concerts home music places responsibility wonderful work york
It's wonderful doing concerts in places like New York and London, but I feel a responsibility to also bring my work home, to bring world-class, classical music to Somerset.
calling conductor gag player slightly
In America, they have this nauseating habit of calling the conductor 'maestro'. I always slightly gag when the cor anglais player goes, 'Maestro, can I discuss bar 19 with you?'
cook fish food great hugh music news rick shows stein
I'm always up for music shows such as Jools Holland, but news more than anything, particularly Newsnight. And cookery: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Rick Stein - it's down to him that I cook fish so much - and the great food alchemist Heston Blumenthal.
birmingham brilliant gets music orchestra russian sound symphony tom
I admire Tom Ades: he's a brilliant conductor, and he gets just the right hard, brilliant sound from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for Russian music.
aspects audience believe bit historical key playing repertoire responsibility throw
Even if you're playing the most well-known repertoire under the sun, I still believe you have a responsibility as an artist to tell the audience why you're playing it, what are the key aspects to it, and then throw in a bit about its historical context.
music
When I analyse the music, I can get really extreme.
family heart love spend time
I spend so much of my time working away, but I love being here. My family is in Somerset, and this is where my heart is.
classical maiden music nobody wants
Classical music has become rarefied, like a maiden aunt that nobody wants to talk to.
concert overload sensory
I want to prove that Holst's 'The Planets' can be as much of a sensory overload as a concert by the Grateful Dead, and just as exciting.