Australian Gourmet Traveller - (07)July 2019 (1)

Justbackfrom...

Lausanne,where

I’mprincipalguest

conductorof

theOrchestre

deChambrede

Lausanne.

Nextup...

I’mmakingmy

débutwiththe

ChicagoSymphony

Orchestra.

I haveanextremelylowboredom

thresholdsomyhandluggageis always

packedwithstufftodoonthetrip.The

longerthetrip,themorebooksI haveand

scorestostudy.AndI’vetakenupknitting

inthepastfewyears.I alwayshaveeye

masksandI’vegotthesefantasticlittle

Bosein-earheadphonesI cansleepwith.

I’mafraidI don’tfollowtheusualgood

adviceaboutnoalcoholonlong-haul

flights.I tendtothinka doublewhiskey

is a great way to start a 24-hour flight.

I’veprettymuchmasteredtheartof

livingina suitcase.I oftendotwo-hour

turnarounds,whereI’vecomeinfrom

a monthinViennaandBerlinandI’ve

gottwohourstopackfortwomonths

inAustraliabeforethecarcomestotake

metoHeathrow.I’vebecomeextremely

minimalist.Gonearethedaysofpacking

10 pairsofshoes.Everything’s black

and navy, it all matches.

Beingabletosleepis a recurringtheme.

I lovea hotelwithdoubledoors,soit’s

absolutelysilent.That’squitefantastic.

I havetobeabletosleepandI sleepat

weirdtimes– if I’vegotrehearsalsinthe

morninganda concertat nightI need

tobeabletosleep between 3 and 4in

the afternoon.

I amabsolutelypermanentlyjetlagged.

I sleepinthree-hourinstalments.I’m

actuallyfiringonallcylindersthismorning

becauseI sleptfiveanda halfhourslast

night.That’sunheardof.If I getsix

hours’ sleep I’m ready to climb Everest.

Sydneyis theoneplaceintheworld

whereas theplanecomesintoland

andI lookoutthewindowI startsmiling.

I knowa bigpartis becauseit’shome,

butthere’salsotherecollection,after

I returnedfrommyfirstEuropeantrip,

ofwhatanextraordinarily,spectacularly

beautifulplaceit is.Andthere’salwaysa

terrificsenseofbeingat homewhenI’m

conducting the SSO in the Concert Hall.●

SimoneYoungconductstheSydney

SymphonyOrchestra’sperformanceof

SchubertandLiszt(22-24August)and

Mahler’sKlagendeLied(4-7December)

aspartoftheSimoneYoung’sVisions

of Vienna series. sydneysymphony.com

Simone

Young

Theinternational

conductorona lifeof

long-haul,brokensleep

and perpetual motion.

TRAVELLING WITH

I havetwohomes.OneinSydney,where

I wasbornandgrewupandwheremy

mumlives.Andtheotherinthesouthof

England,wheremyhusband,Greg,and

mydaughtersandtwogranddaughterslive.

WhenI’mworkinginEuropeI canoften

justflyhomefor 24 or 48 hours,butI’ve

beenworkinga lotintheUSandsofar

thisyear,as wellas theusualEuropean

travel,I’vehadlotsoflong-haul:Sydney

toUKreturntwice,UKtoLAreturn,and

NewYorkandSanFrancisco,andnow

I’m in Detroit. This is abitextreme.

GregandI lovetravelling;we’recomplete

gypsies.Thisyear’sbeenunusual– I

hada fewweeksoffbecausea project

wascancelled.Wetookanovernight

traintoScotlandtovisitfriends.I

wenttoSaintPetersburgtostudysome

Russian.Wedon’treally let the grass

grow under our feet.

VisitingUluruwasquiteextraordinaryand

transformative.I conductedthenational

anthemat theopeningceremonyof

theSydneyOlympics,butI’mnotgood

aroundcrowdsandI escapedwithmy

bestfriendtoUluru.I wasoverwhelmed

andhumbledbyit,andappalledthat

I wasnearly 40 andI wasvisitingthis

extraordinaryplaceforthefirsttime.

Thereis somethingvery defining

about that place.

30 GOURMET TRAVELLER

How I travel

INTERVIEW HELEN ANDERSON. PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES.