There is too much emphasis on technical perfection nowadays, and not enough on what music is actually about - irony, joy, human suffering, love.
Mstislav RostropovichIn 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.
Mstislav RostropovichI came to Moscow when I was 5 years old from Baku. To walk all night in Moscow will bring back my youth to me.
Mstislav Rostropovich