| Pipe smoking is music to theworld famous classical music conductor’s ears…
JL:Where did you first start smoking"
CD: My father smoked a pipe and I think it wasprobably during the time when I did National Service. I took upsmoking a pipe on the journeys from London and Windsor, en route tomy barracks. I held the lowest rank in the army as a musician inthe Household Cavalry; no wonder I started smoking.
JL: Do you stillenjoy pipe-smoking"
CD: I’ve just smoked one pipe today. JL: What tobacco do you enjoy most"
CD: Now, I’ve been introduced to blackmixtures by my son, but I still enjoy what is called an EnglishMixture, that is a mixture of Virginia and Latakia. Anyway, thebest version of that comes from George Hoober, in Munich. He has a package called ‘English No.1’,that I’m very fond of.
JL: Which musician, living or dead, would youlike most to share an ashtray with"
CD: The two men who I admire probably most werepipe-smokers. One was Bach, who actually wrote a poem in praise ofpipe-smoking, and Mozart, who we know was a pipe-smoker. And Isuspect Beethoven was probably a pipe-smoker too. So, if one ofthese three men would care to smoke a pipe with me – how wonderful!
JL: If you were forced to smoke in the doorway of one of theworld’s musical venues, which I hope has never happened, which onewould you prefer to smoke in"
CD: What an extraordinary idea. Probably inthe gent’s (toilet) at the Barbican. There’s no picture of mepuffing my pipe at the Vienna OperaHouse or in La Scala in Milan. I have smoked in all kinds of holyplaces, so I can’t say I would prefer one or the other.
JL: Have you ever conducted with your pipe"
CD: Never. But then I’m not old enough,because it was Klemperer who smoked a pipe and the leader of theorchestra used to remove his pipe before they started therehearsal. I don’t know whether it’s apocryphal or not, but therewe are.
JL: Do you smoke your pipe before a performance,or light up afterwards"
CD: On the way, usually. I find it has a verybenign influence on the journey to the concert hall.
JL: Do you think that pipe-smoking has helpedthe creativity of composers or musicians"
CD: I think it gives them time tocontemplate. It’s seriously difficult to talk much when you’resmoking a pipe because the damned thing goes out all the time. Women leave one alone because they suffocate, so a chap’s got timeto himself, and nothing’s more important, if you’re a creativeperson.
JL: Has there ever been a special moment in yourlife when everything came together – enhanced by the smoking"
CD: Well, that’s very hard to answer. My life islike a hairbrush – it’s full of high points – and to choose one oranother would be to belittle the rest. But probably the mostsatisfactory pipe is after one has got married.
JL: What music to youenjoy best sitting back and smoking to"
CD: I wouldalmost certainly choose Sibelius, not that he smoked a pipe, but hewas a shocking consumer of cigars. And there is a leisure aboutSibelius’s music which entices one to light up before the auralenjoyment. |
