I never studied, but I had the best teachers.

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

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

I like coming to the United States because the United States played an important role in my life.

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.

When I started learning the cello, I fell in love with the instrument because it seemed like a voice - my voice.

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