The violinist, who left the Soviet Union at 22, was talking about how the regime used Shostakovich, Prokofiev and other great musicians politically. Earlier he described composers as his constant travelling companions.
…such a complex world with so many things, you know, so many conflicts and so forth. So there, there is harmony, there is peace, there is logic, the wonderful passions of, you know, of the heart and interesting constructions. You can be in a completely different world without a word being spoken.
If you're a genius in music, you are probably a genius in life, which many times you're misunderstood. Did you think about this as you were making music in terms of the fame and the notoriety, or were you just in it for the music?
No, no, I was always interested in, you know, the circumstances and the time, because, you know, music is also, among other things, it's the most perfect time machine and culture machine. You know, we could be sitting here, and if I put on some music, you know, of the 19th century, all of a sudden we're in Russia in the middle of the 19th century. Or we could be 300 years earlier in the Bach's time. But it's interesting to know what Bach was doing when he was. He was never acknowledged as the great composer. He was the greatest organist of his time, but he was just a counter of Thomas Kierkegaard. His fame came much later. You know, a genius like Schubert, for instance, never had a single symphony performed in his lifetime. Mind you, of course, he died very young at 31. So, you know, there's a lot of, I know a great deal about composers because they are my constant companions. I travel always. They say, oh, you have such a lonely life. You always travel. And I do travel a lot, even at my considerable age. But I am never alone because I travel with Bach, with Mozart, with Beethoven, with Shostakovich, with Prokofiev. These people are quite real to me. I've spent actually probably more time with…
Wow, music can be used for good, but it can also be used to drive evil. Your family has been working, though, in music for four generations since 1889. What is it like to carry that weight on your shoulders?
Oh, it's a lot of responsibility, a lot of responsibility. And it's a great advantage because obviously, genetically, you've been given something in my case from both sides. My father was born in Kiev. My mother was born in Baku. She went to Baku to have me bring me to the world. But I grew up in…
So you left the Soviet Union at 22 and you went to Juilliard. Right. Are you chasing a dream then or were you running from something?