When I Started Learning The Cello, I

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.

When I Started Learning The Cello, I Fell In Love With The Instrument Because It Seemed Like A Voice - My Voice.

I Would Rather Have Ideas And Some Difficulties Of Technique Than A Perfect Technique And No Ideas.

Now I Want To Use Money In A Good Way. I Make Foundations Back Home In Russia, I Have Sponsored Vaccinations For More Than One Million Children In My Homeland And I Have Founded Scholarships In The Names Of My Great Russian Compatriots - Oistrakh, Richter, Gilels, Shostakovich, Prokofiev And Schnittke.

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.