Valery Gergiev on his LSO journey and his new opera house

14 December 2012, 10:44 | Updated: 14 December 2012, 11:51

Valery Gergiev talks to Classic FM about his tour with the LSO, his new opera house in St. Petersburg and also how his relationship with the LSO has changed over the years.

Principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, Creative Director of the Mariinsky Theatre and international maestro extraordinaire, Valery Gergiev's reputation as one of his generation's finest conductors precedes him. And with a typically full calendar of concerts to negotiate, Classic FM was lucky enough to be granted an in-depth interview with the man himself.

We joined him mid-tour with the LSO as they tackle programmes of Brahms and Szymanowski, and also as Maestro Gergiev prepares to open a brand new opera house in St Petersburg, Mariinsky 2, with which he had plenty of involvement when it came to designing the space.

Gergiev also told Kristiaan Yeo about his philosophies of classical music and his desire to innovate: "I hate repetition. My understanding of classical music is that the next second brings development, even if it's a continued note… I rarely interfere in the technical."