The zenith of virtuosity, a violinist like Jascha Heifetz, the supernatural in a pianist like Vladimir Horowitz, these are performers who were so idiosyncratic and personal that to imitate them would be like filling somebody else's bottle with your wine. — David Finckel Copy Share Image
We all know that there are many people that can play the instrument perfectly today, up and down with technical perfection, but does the… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
Beginning in the nineteenth century, with performers like Franz Liszt, were musicians who were able to excite an audience and communicate on a whole… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
I think you can tell a lot from the lives of many of today's great soloists. Their participation and gravitation towards chamber music is… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
The pieces that have survived, the ones that we all love, were not all popular in their time. Just look at Beethoven's late string… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
When I finally got together with Rostropovich as a student, he was very focused, almost entirely focused on the music itself, on what the… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
If I were to run around the world playing just the cello concertos - and believe me, I love playing them - I would… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
Being an artist and a musician, I have witnessed the previous generation taking the art form, not as a way of making a living,… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
A lot of my musical education was done simply by listening. If you really want to excel on your instrument, it's almost impossible to… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
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… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
I would say that for the younger musicians, technical proficiency is necessary and a given these days. But the study and the way you… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
Even if you are a pianist, your concerto repertoire is very limited compared to what your chamber repertoire would be if you were a… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
For Rostropovich, every single note that he played had a special kind of human meaning behind it. And this was something that he expressed… — David Finckel Copy Share Image
