Today, conducting is a question of ego: a lot of people believe they are actually playing the music.

There are probably many people in Israel who believe that Wagner, who died in 1883, lived in Berlin in 1942 and was friends with Hitler.

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

Now the first step has to be taken, the step towards democracy. This step is full of risks, and requires trust on all sides. We don't know where it will lead. But if we just stand still, we will have no chance of escaping the violence.

Music has the capacity to create a greater reality.

The Steinway piano is such an incomparable instrument. Due to its virtues, I am able to express all my musical feelings.

I can't stand being in Chicago anymore and hearing the Brahms Violin Concerto in the elevator. Because that shows me that when they come to the concert hall they listen to it in the same way.