39 Quotes by Mstislav Rostropovich

The war years were the most difficult time of my life. There was real famine in Moscow. The water froze inside the houses. There was no heat.

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

Music is part of history, and our history has lessons that cannot be separated from our greatest music.

Baalbek is so beautiful. It is the heart of beauty in the Middle East - I want to embrace these people with my music. I will try so hard for them. Their president is a Christian, their prime minister is a Muslim. Music is for everyone.

If I make a speech, I need a translator. But music does not need a translation. People understand me through the sound. That I think is very important. This is just one planet, like one family.

I came to Moscow when I was 5 years old from Baku. To walk all night in Moscow will bring back my youth to me.

Now I come to 75 years of age, I think what's most important in life is your conscience. If you told a lie and made other people suffer, I think that's very difficult when you reach this age.

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.

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