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.

All my life I wanted to play music with love to every member of the audience.

The cello is a hero because of its register - its tenor voice. It is a masculine instrument, whereas the violin is feminine because of its soprano pitch. When the cello enters in the Dvorak Concerto, it is like a great orator.

Now I want to use money in a good way. I make foundations back home in Russia, I have sponsored vaccinations for more than one million children in my homeland and I have founded scholarships in the names of my great Russian compatriots - Oistrakh, Richter, Gilels, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Schnittke.

I never studied, but I had the best teachers.

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

You must play for the love of music. Perfect technique is not as important as making music from the heart.