It is my aim, my destination in life to make the cello as beloved an instrument as the violin and piano.

I came to Moscow when I was 5 years old from Baku. To walk all night in Moscow will bring back my youth to me.

There is too much emphasis on technical perfection nowadays, and not enough on what music is actually about - irony, joy, human suffering, love.

Capitalism, communism ... it's all garbage.

It is my aim, my destination in life to make the cello as beloved an instrument as the violin and piano.

Explain to me, please, why in our literature and art so often people absolutely incompetent in this field have the final word.

I would rather have ideas and some difficulties of technique than a perfect technique and no ideas.