Today's young conductors step on to the podium with a ready smile. Gustavo Dudamel (30) from Venezuela is a whirlwind presence who galvanises everyone around him. Vasily Petrenko (35) is a charismatic Russian who has put the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic firmly on to the map; the Latvian Andris Nelsons (32) at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is likewise a very hot property indeed. Yannick Nézet-Séguin (36) has proved a smash hit in London where he's principal guest conductor of the LPO.  

Three still younger ones to watch are Robin Ticciati (28), a Rattle protégé who is sweeping fresh air through the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Nicholas Collon (28),  the LPO's assistant conductor, who has already founded the young, forward-looking Aurora Orchestra, which scooped this year's Royal Philharmonic Society Award for best ensemble, and Ilyich Rivas, who, incredibly, aged only 18, has proved himself a charismatic fledgling maestro who seems sure to have a dazzling future. 

What these conductors do at 40 will probably tell us more about their artistry than what they do in their twenties, but the task ahead of them is clear. Takács-Nagy says: "In music there are extremely strong emotions, but often orchestral concerts which I have heard have not represented these extreme feelings. I think if extreme emotions radiated really strongly in classical concerts today, classical music would be more popular. People go to football matches or watch soap operas because there they can experience extreme happiness or extreme sadness. We are often attracted to extreme feelings, and the music of the great composers is full of them. Beethoven, for instance, experienced every emotion in life with around ten times the intensity of any normal person." 

Maybe that genuine extremity of feeling is the quality that injects orchestral music with the overwhelming communicative power it can have, and should have. And it bowls freely out of Tákacs-Nagy's interpretations. "I love music!" he exclaims. "I love music more than myself. And I try to feel and live it and communicate it with my colleagues. We all have ego and the hardest thing is how to put aside the ego in the performance." And become a channel for the music? "Yes!"

There's that crucial difference. I anticipate some interesting trips to Manchester.