Mozart often wrote to his family that certain variations or sections of pieces were so successful that they had to be encored immediately, even without waiting for the entire piece to end.

The sheer force of the music calls for a wild audience reaction.

Applause should be an emotional response to the music, rather than a regulated social duty.

Pianists don't argue too much generally because we have a hard enough time just getting things right. Arguing is for string players.

I think competition in any kind of activity like music, art, literature - anything that's not done with a timer - is actually impossible. So, in effect, what you're doing is you're entering the lottery. You're hoping that you play well (and that) you play your best on the day that you're heard, and you're hoping that the people who are judging will like what you do.

If there were no rules about when to applaud, we in the audience would have the right response almost always.

Mozart often wrote to his family that certain variations or sections of pieces were so successful that they had to be encored immediately, even without waiting for the entire piece to end.