Mstislav Rostropovich Quotes

I Came To Moscow When I Was 5 Years Old From Baku. To Walk All Night In Moscow Will Bring Back My Youth To Me.

I Like Coming To The United States Because The United States Played An Important Role In My Life.

I Played With The Best Conductors Of The World.

Now I Want To Use Money In A Good Way. I Make Foundations Back Home In Russia, I Have Sponsored Vaccinations For More Than One Million Children In My Homeland And I Have Founded Scholarships In The Names Of My Great Russian Compatriots - Oistrakh, Richter, Gilels, Shostakovich, Prokofiev And Schnittke.

Baalbek Is So Beautiful. It Is The Heart Of Beauty In The Middle East - I Want To Embrace These People With My Music. I Will Try So Hard For Them. Their President Is A Christian, Their Prime Minister Is A Muslim. Music Is For Everyone.

Explain To Me, Please, Why In Our Literature And Art So Often People Absolutely Incompetent In This Field Have The Final Word.

You Know Creators, Composers, Need A Palette For Life, A Color For Life.

In 1948 The First Severe Crash Occurred In My Life When Stalin Put Out His Decree On Formalism. There Was A Bulletin Board In The Moscow Conservatory. They Posted The Decree, Which Said Shostakovichs Compositions And Prokofievs Were No Longer To Be Played.

It Is My Aim, My Destination In Life To Make The Cello As Beloved An Instrument As The Violin And Piano.

I Never Studied, But I Had The Best Teachers.

The Cello Is A Hero Because Of Its Register - Its Tenor Voice. It Is A Masculine Instrument, Whereas The Violin Is Feminine Because Of Its Soprano Pitch. When The Cello Enters In The Dvorak Concerto, It Is Like A Great Orator.

All My Life I Wanted To Play Music With Love To Every Member Of The Audience.