“When I finally got together with Rostropovich as a student, he was very focused, almost entirely focused on the music itself, on what the composer had in mind and what he knew about the composer. Many of the works that I played for him had in fact been composed and written for him; he was often the first performer of these works, having known the composers personally.” MindFirstsFactsTogetherKnownWrittenStudentsFocusedPerformersComposer Author:David Finckel
“I don't think too much about the past when I am actually playing, I prefer to concentrate on the present. The performance of a piece, no matter how long ago or where it was written, is always a new production, something that comes alive in the present. And it doesn't matter if the piece was written two or three hundred years ago if it is alive in us.” IfsThinkingYearsLongTwoMatterPastThreeToo MuchPiecesAliveWrittenHundredYears AgoPerformancesProductionsLong AgoLive In The Present Author:David Finckel
“I think one of the most wonderful things we can do as performers is to remind audiences that they can still relate to the emotions and feelings, as though the music had been written yesterday.” ThinkingStillsFeelingsCan DoEmotionAudienceWonderfulWrittenYesterdayRelatePerformersWonderful Things Author:David Finckel
