5 Quotes & Sayings By Mstislav Rostropovich

Mstislav Rostropovich is considered the "greatest cellist of the 20th century" and has been awarded twelve Grammy Awards. He has performed with many of the world's greatest orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (Kharkov), Nationale Kapel (Amsterdam), Orchestre de Paris (Paris), and the Boston Pops. He has collaborated with numerous conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Zubin Mehta, Mstislav Rostropovich himself in his earlier years in the USSR.

1
The artist must forget the audience, forget the critics, forget the technique, forget everything but love for the music. Then, the music speaks through the performance, and the performer and the listener will walk togetherwith the soul of the composer, and with God. Mstislav Rostropovich
2
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. Mstislav Rostropovich
3
When I started learning the cello, I fell in love with the instrument because it seemed like a voice - my voice. Mstislav Rostropovich
4
Every man must have the right fearlessly to think independently and express his opinion about what he knows, what he has personally thought about and experienced, and not merely to express with slightly different variations the opinion which has been inculcated in him. Mstislav Rostropovich