“It may be because Beethoven was once the key to classical music for the new Chief Conductor. That he listened to him non-stop in his room and really took it in. It’s almost as if he’s dancing with Beethoven on the stand. Not theatrically or for the effect, but only for himself. He does it without a score, completely by heart, yet he always has the next turn, the next cue on the tip of his tongue. He prepares the next blink of an eye with great anticipation and joy, he leads his musicians, sometimes with a very relaxed, sometimes energetic gesture. No, the Seventh [Symphony] on this evening was not just a piece of music that is transported from the notes into the sound apparatus as accurately as possible. This seventh was a party.”

“It is perhaps this paradoxical mixture of relaxation and rhythmic attack that makes Haimor special.”

“The last note was accompanied by bravos. That was a Beethoven you don’t hear every day in Reutlingen. And the conductor places himself further into the ranks of the musicians than usual: Look, we did it all together.”