The first time I bake or cook a new recipe, I try to follow it to the letter. No substitutions, no tweaks, no “I think it’ll taste better if…”. That’s because I don’t know yet what’s integral and what’s flexible.
After I’ve made it at least once, a recipe is more of a suggestion – I know what I’ll have to follow, and what I can throw out to suit my own taste.
That’s the truth with the music I conduct, too. The first time I conduct a piece, I’m going to follow the score as closely as I can, until I discover things that might need changing. The next time, I don’t mind making significant alterations to the score in order to improve the musical outcome. I know what’s essential, and what can be changed without changing the meaning or intent of the score.