I Would Rather Have Ideas And Some

I Would Rather Have Ideas And Some Difficulties Of Technique Than A Perfect Technique And No Ideas.

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.

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.

There Is Too Much Emphasis On Technical Perfection Nowadays, And Not Enough On What Music Is Actually About - Irony, Joy, Human Suffering, Love.

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.