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

In 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.

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

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

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

People are craving this great progress in electronics, going after computers, the Internet, etc. It's a giant progress technologically. But they must have a balance of soul, a balance for human beauty. That means art has an important role.

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