The 97-year-old Herbert Blomstedt conducts the Philharmonic

He has to be led into the Philharmonic, holding the hand of Leif Ove Andsnes, the soloist. Herbert Blomstedt’s life has now reached a staggering 97 years, and he still stands, or rather sits, at the conductor’s podium, no longer the upright, willowy figure he was at 90, but still flowing and pulsating with music. The work keeps him going, and he continues to say polished sentences like: “Being a conductor is a good job to grow old because it is always a challenge – and you need challenges as you get older.”