If you mess up the tiniest little thing in the Beethoven concerto, or the phrasing isn't just exactly perfectly executed, Beethoven brings out the worst in the best violinist. You almost never hear a satisfying performance, because it doesn't play itself.

I grew up in a musical family, but nobody was a professional musician.

I was lucky enough to have parents who started me on music very early, but most kids don't get that kind of exposure.

At a music hall, I'll get upset if someone coughs or if someone's cellphone goes off.

The best way to refine an interpretation is by getting out and performing.

I never had any real expectations about what sort of success I would have or all the publicity.

I don't sleep with a violin in my bed, but there is something very magical about the instrument. You open up the case; it's a masterpiece, it's gorgeous, the varnish is still there from 300 years ago. People who know violins, they look at it and it's almost like a face.