We have no film of Nikisch - imagine the fascination of that if we had. I would give my right arm for just thirty seconds. I remember after the war in Bayreuth spending many hours with an old bass player who had worked under him.
I just felt like I would have given my right arm to be there with a camera - and that stayed in my mind for a long time.
On the one hand we have what appears to be pop star wingeing, but most people would give their right arm to be the principle subjects on a tour of this scale. Nothing is more annoying than when a dole queue fan shells out six pounds for a ticket to a show which is nothing but a huge yawn for the artist.