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 Shostakovich's compositions and Prokofiev's were no longer to be played.

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.

You know creators, composers, need a palette for life, a color for life.

It is my aim, my destination in life to make the cello as beloved an instrument as the violin and piano.

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.

I listened to Pablo Casals, which was a big change for me. Without hearing Casals, I would never have advanced as I did.