"The awful thing about a conductor becoming geriatric is that you seem to become more desirable, not less"

Neville Marriner’s observation touches a paradox within the world of orchestral music. Conducting is one of the few artistic or even professional arenas where age and accumulated years of experience may increase, rather than diminish, one’s value. While many professions emphasize youth, vigor, and innovation, in the realm of classical music, an older conductor is often seen as wiser, richer in interpretative insight, and even more revered.

The word “geriatric” brings with it the typical associations of decline, frailty, and obsolescence. Most careers, especially those in performance or sport, impose a tacit expiry date; age often sidelines the once-vigorous participant. In contrast, among conductors, advancing years are less a liability and more a badge of honor. As conductors grow older, their artistry, understanding, and emotional range tend to deepen. This maturity is viewed by musicians, audiences, and orchestral boards as a resource worthy of respect and even desire.

Marriner’s slightly wry tone in describing the phenomenon as “awful” points to a sense of irony. There may be an awkwardness in feeling one’s physical limitations increase, even as invitations to lead prestigious orchestras multiply. The aging conductor might experience both the private frustrations of advancing age and the public adulation that paradoxically intensifies. There is also the humbling realization that power, authority, and charisma are enhanced by something as uncontrollable as the passage of time, a reversal of societal norms.

At the heart of this observation is a reflection on time’s duality: it takes away and it gives. For conductors, the years may erode certain abilities, but they also distill and concentrate a trove of musical knowledge and emotional vocabulary. Perhaps audiences and musicians sense this, seeking out aged maestros for the sagacity and gravitas that cannot be learned, only lived.