‘He had never conducted the Dvořák Cello Concerto before we did it together with the Israel Philharmonic. He couldn’t believe it himself. He fell in love with it, and like everything else he did, he took it incredibly seriously. The score was covered in markings; he analysed every harmony as a composer. ‘As usual we met the day before the first rehearsal with orchestra, in his suite at the Hilton in Tel Aviv. I played the solo part with the piano, and afterwards he said: “I’m such a lucky man. I’m doing this great concerto for the first time in my life, and I’m so lucky to do it with you because you play exactly the way I feel!” https://www.thestrad.com/artists/mischa-maisky-on-working-with-leonard-bernstein/8394.article