Marek Janowski Debuts With the New York Philharmonic at 85

Your life was shaped by World War II. You were born in Poland in 1939 and moved to Germany as a child. Your father disappeared in Poland.

I grew up in Wuppertal, a German city, with my grandparents and my mother. When there was an aircraft attack, there was an announcement on the radio to take shelter. But one day, my grandfather got the information late, so we couldn’t leave the house to go to the shelter. And my grandparents and my mother decided we would sit together in a room, very close, so that if a bomb dropped on our house, we would all four be immediately dead, and no one would survive. I remember that very well. I thought that was the right decision, but of course an unpleasant decision.

Do you worry about the possibility of another large-scale conflict?

Not me personally. It’s possible I could die in another year or two. But of course, I worry for younger generations. The civilized world is looking at a very unclear and difficult future. Nationalism is not touching one country. It’s a wave through all these countries. It’s like a disease, an infection.

What has music given you in difficult times?

For most of my life, I thought it was impossible to live without music. I am not so sure anymore.

What do you mean?

I cannot give you a reason. It’s just a feeling. Now, I think I could live without conducting music. Listening, of course, is a different matter. But 20 or 30 years ago, I couldn’t have imagined living without conducting.

Do you ever consider retiring?

You have a responsibility in front of the orchestra and in front of the audience. You should feel that you can give all you have to the audience. And when you feel it’s not possible anymore — I don’t feel it yet, but I could imagine it — then one should not do it anymore.

How do you feel ahead of your Philharmonic debut?

The musicians wouldn’t die not having me there, and I wouldn’t die if I wouldn’t have this week here now. But it falls well together, and it’s a pleasure working with them. Period. It’s very simple. And we try, all together, to serve the composer the best we can. That I can see in their faces.