She is, however, happy to pick out some highlights in a distinguished international career, now based in Germany with Hamburg's State Opera and Philharmonic. Her first Ring cycle in Vienna was an important milestone. "I was 38 at the time and fairly young to be conducting this work," she says. "I was so lucky to have an extraordinary cast of the greats of the day."
Less expected is her enjoyment tackling Tchaikovsky's Pathetique symphony for the first time, just a few years ago.
"It's my favourite symphony," she says. "It was the first symphony that I heard; I was 12 years old and have loved it ever since. I'm slowly exploring all his symphonies. I've done Four, Five and Six and now I'm about to tackle the much-maligned One, Two and Three."
Young admits that Bruckner's music does not have the same immediate appeal as that of the uber-popular Russian composer; she herself did not have a Bruckner experience until relatively late in life.
"Australia's not your typical Bruckner country and I doubt if New Zealand is either. In general, Bruckner gets a lot of bad press in the English-speaking world. He's often considered to be a long, heavy trudge and we've been very badly influenced by 60s and 70s recordings with very slow tempi and a thick, late-Romantic sound."
It doesn't have to be so, she ssays, especially if you use the composer's original versions, which she is proud to have recorded with her Hamburg orchestra.
"Bruckner was paranoid and self-conscious and didn't have confidence in his original thoughts. When his work was criticised, instead of sticking to his guns, he just modestly took the score home and changed it according to people's comments. It's hard to believe I've conducted the first Viennese and Berlin performances of the original Second Symphony over 100 years after it was written."
As for tonight's Eighth Symphony, it is clearly a favourite and, she comments wryly, she nearly always finds that a new orchestra has not taken on the original version before.
She watches out for those moments of surprise, and invariably of delight. "It's a most gratifying experience," she adds, confessing that she "really enjoys making Bruckner converts".
The slow movement, which runs at almost half-an-hour, is "glorious".
"I love the fact that the NZSO has titled this concert Cathedral of Sound, as that is the slow movement. It's an exquisite monument, filled with light, filled with emotion.
"These days we are often wary of things that are simply beautiful, but this is just that. There's no other way of describing it."
Performance
What: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Where and when: Auckland Town Hall, tonight at 7.30pm
