You can't expect someone born into a family with no music...to understand when I'm conducting the Schönberg Variations.

In times of totalitarian or autocratic rule, music (indeed culture in general) is often the only avenue of independent thought. It is the only way people can meet as equals, and exchange ideas. Culture then becomes primarily the voice of the oppressed and it takes over from politics as a driving force for change.

The tempo is the suitcase. If the suitcase is too small, everything is completely wrinkled. If the tempo is too fast, everything becomes so scrambled you can't understand it.

In the beginning, there was silence. And out of the silence came the sound. The sound is not here.

I have heard Ori Kam on several occasions over the last few years and have always been deeply impressed with his playing. He possesses a rare combination of musical talent, technical facility, intelligence, and charisma, and he is undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary young artists I have heard in recent years.

An Israeli who thinks that his government is doing everything right wouldn't join the Divan Orchestra in the first place.

To have real knowledge, one must understand the essence of things and not only their manifestations.