Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

Cellist of (and sometimes out of) sorts, Author, Father, Lover of Indian and other food and of the Marx Brothers and other people who make me laugh. stevenisserlis.com Joined July 2013

Tweets

24K
Followers

43K
Following

742
Likes

66K

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

14 hours ago

Vladimir Horowitz b otd 1903! What a magician of the keyboard: such imagination, daring, spontaneity, irresistible charm and sparkle - as well as volcanic temperament. "I am a general. My soldiers are the keys and I have to command them." "Perfection itself is imperfection."

14 40 207 4K 5

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

a day ago

Wonderful Dvořàk day - first the museum in Prague, and then a joyous visit to his country house, Viilla Rusalka - hosted by his charming great-great-grandson Petr. Thrilling to see his everyday objects - eg his (tiny!) bed, dining-table, work desk and… his sugar and coffee jars!

20 35 265 4K 11

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

2 days ago

David Oistrakh b otd 1908! I love this - on his early recordings: "I think the technique was good, and I sound very fresh...but over the years I'm sure my playing has matured - above all because after those discs were made I did a great deal of chamber music." A lesson there...

12 27 218 5K 4

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

3 days ago

Cervantes b otd 1547! So right: “When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”

12 44 214 6K 16

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

4 days ago

Alas, beloved Harpo Marx d otd 1964 (after an unnecessary operation). What an artist - hilarious, full of fantasy, angelically loveable, impishly mischievous, and a magical musician as well. In case anyone's interested, this is the documentary we made: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07…

17 40 237 5K 21

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

5 days ago

Edgar Degas (d otd 1917) on art, falsity - and boredom! "One sees what one wants to see. It is false, and that falsity is the foundation of art." "I'm glad to say I haven't found my style yet. I'd be bored to death." "Boredom soon overcomes me when I am contemplating nature." !!!

10 26 130 4K 6

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

6 days ago

I love this from the conductor Charles Münch, b otd 1891, on his art: "The collective conscience of a hundred musicians is no light burden. Think for a moment of what it would mean to a pianist if by some miracle every key of his instrument should suddenly become a living thing."

11 43 222 7K 10

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

6 days ago

Béla Bartók d otd 80 years ago! His eyes... “In art there are only fast or slow developments. Essentially it is a matter of evolution, not revolution.” “With maturity comes the wish to economise – to be more simple." And SO true: “Competitions are for horses, not artists.” Yes!!!

14 72 318 10K 15

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

7 days ago

Two fascinating masters b otd: Dmitry Shostakovich (1906): ‘What can be considered human emotions? I want to fight for the legitimate right of laughter in ‘‘serious’’ music.’ Glenn Gould (1932): "One does not play the piano with one's fingers, one plays the piano with one's mind"

18 82 391 14K 27

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

a week ago

Thoughts on writing from F Scott Fitzgerald (b otd 1896): “That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.” "An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.”

9 26 145 4K 7

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

a week ago

Sigmund Freud (d otd 1939): Every night human beings lay aside the wrappings in which they have enveloped their skin…And when they go to sleep they carry out an analogous undressing of their minds. The dream is the liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature.

3 22 104 3K 3

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

a week ago

Isaac Stern, d otd 2001 - a great musician who cared about music's future: "I have a responsibility to pass on to the next generation what I learned from my teachers, ... It keeps me young and reminds me where I came from. Teaching young artists is like giving water to a flower."

11 46 261 5K 8

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

2 weeks ago

Gustav Holst b otd 1874 - so wise! Music, being identical with heaven, isn't a thing of momentary thrills...It's a condition of eternity. Every artist ought to pray that he's not "a success". If he's a failure he stands a chance of producing the best work of which he's capable.

12 32 202 5K 6

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

2 weeks ago

Prague this evening - what a city…

12 20 272 4K 4

Download Video

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

2 weeks ago

Sibelius d otd 1957! From his violin-playing youth: “I loved to take my violin with me on my summer rambles, so that, whenever I felt inspired, I could express it in music. During the summers in Sääksmäki I gave the birds endless concerts...When sailing I improvised to the sea.”

12 46 269 5K 6

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

2 weeks ago

William Golding b otd 1911: “True alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words.” “Art is partly communication, but only partly. The rest is discovery.” “I'm against the picture of the artist as a starry-eyed visionary. I'd prefer the word 'craftsman'"

7 14 100 3K 4

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

2 weeks ago

I'm practising the Schumann concerto - the piece I'm most often invited to play (fine - I adore it!) I was asked recently why I still practise it so much. My answer was - and is: 'just because I cleaned my teeth yesterday doesn't mean to say I don't need to clean them today'.

33 40 411 10K 8

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

2 weeks ago

Gloomy, but alas all too apt, thoughts from Samuel Johnson (b otd 1709): “He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.” “I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.” “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”

10 30 147 5K 8

Download Image

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

2 weeks ago

Great artists and the telephone - it could be the subject of an interesting study, I think. eg: Brahms owned one, but rarely if ever used it; Tchaikovsky once tried a long-distance call, but it made him ill; whereas Proust listened to whole Wagner operas down his phone line...

29 22 187 7K 7

Steven Isserlis @StevenIsserlis

2 weeks ago

A very happy 70th to the brilliant Rita Rudner! "When I eventually met Mr. Right I had no idea that his first name was Always." "Neurotics build castles in the air, psychotics live in them. My mother cleans them." To attract men, I wear a perfume called 'New Car Interior.'