If you put your hand on the piano, you play a note. It's in tune. But if you put it on the violin, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. You have to figure it out.
— Itzhak Perlman
Everybody's saying, you know, 'You're so heroic and so on despite of the polio that you had and so on.' Look, I had polio when I was four. So when you're four years old, you know, you get used to things very, very quickly.
I say to string players in small chamber orchestras, 'it's always easy to become a passenger on the journey in sound, just adding volume to the whole. But if you play in an individual way, it makes the difference between good and great sound in an orchestra.'
I always find Bach to be an expression of a love of life. There's an enthusiasm that's absolutely contagious.
As for minimalism, I don't care, don't care, don't care to repeat myself, repeat myself.
Architects have to become more aware of exactly what is involved in designing barrier-free buildings and homes.
Access Living is a powerful voice for people in the Chicago area who live with disabilities.
I am humbled and honored to receive the Genesis Prize, recognizing not just my professional achievements and my desire to improve the world, but also my commitment to my Jewish identity, Jewish values, and Jewish culture.
The danger in playing a piece over and over again lies in getting stuck in a rut where you don't ask questions anymore and you always play it the same way.
I actually wanted to play the violin before I had polio, and then afterwards, there was no reason not to.
My message is that giving is very important. Giving is a Jewish thing, and I like to talk about that. There's nothing more important, personally, for anybody than being able to give.
I am an eternal optimist. I always say 'Yihyeh Tov' or 'It'll get better.'
An amazing gift in a young child is, in some ways, an abnormality.
Believe me, I've had interviews where the person says, 'So when did you start and why? What about your parents?' I say to them, 'Please, have you heard of the word 'Google?'
To bring a large audience to a piece of serious music and make it accessible does not mean reducing it in any way. And I've learned that if something is good, even if it is a little difficult, people will get that it is good.
I have just one fiddle. It works, and that's it. It has been an old friend.
I can tell you that many soloists probably wish they could sit.
The thing is that I always consider myself lucky that I can actually cry listening to some music.
The 'Mozart Symphony No. 27' is an early composition. I find it charming.
Whenever I play recitals, the part where I talk about music and my experiences of music, audiences always like it. They feel more involved with an artist who talks to them. It's a nice experience for me as well.
I'm a mushroom freak. I make a mushroom soup where I use maybe six or seven varieties, not just portobello and shiitake, but dried porcini and morels.
Life is always full of challenges. I believe you're never happy unless you're consistently making challenges for yourself.
The problems of the disabled are unpopular.
My experience with the Detroit Symphony has been musically very satisfying. They have a wonderful sound, which for me is one of the most important qualities in an orchestra.
There is no such thing as getting rid of nervousness.
Teaching is really very, very important. I always tell my students that you should find an opportunity to teach. When you teach others, you teach yourself.
I have a very simple philosophy. One has to separate the abilities from the disabilities. The fact I cannot walk, that I need crutches or a scooter or whatever it is, has nothing to do with my playing the violin.
'Kol Nidrei' is probably the most important prayer in the Jewish religion. It comes on the evening of Yom Kippur. There are so many different renditions of it.
I met my wife in music camp. She's got great ears, and we have a relationship where she's not afraid to tell me anything. If something's going on in my playing, she will tell me about it, and that's very, very important.
The thing about talent is that it comes at different ages, sometimes at a very early age. That's when I find it to be the most challenging.
If you can read, then you can recite Shakespeare. But that's not acting.
Television will always err on the side of making something not quite as classy as it could be.
I'm an acoustical person.
A lot of people ask me, 'What is your goal now that you have done everything?' And I always say that my goal is to not be bored by what I do. The only way that I cannot be bored by what I do is if I play something and it's all new to me.
I'm a great sports fan, you know. I love to watch tennis and basketball and baseball and so on.
If you put four different people on a podium conducting the same downbeat, you get four different sounds. It's a little mysterious and fascinating. There's so much you can do with motions and body movements besides giving accurate beats.
Brahms is one of my all-time favorite composers.
It is good medicine to go to a concert hall and forget the harshness of what's going on. It can be a very positive thing.
I always find that there is a real communication between voice and violin.
The arts are part of the fiber of American society and should get Federal support.
I have always been very proud of my Jewish heritage, which has greatly influenced my music, my world view, and my work as an advocate for individuals whom society often leaves behind.
Every person with a disability is an individual.
The difference is that with Ebola, it is such a devastating disease, and there is still no cure. They're still working on vaccines. The fact of the matter with polio, there is a cure; there is a vaccine.
Israel is the country of my birth. When I come here, I feel I'm coming home.
When I was growing up in Israel, Cantorial music was something I heard over and over on the radio, so it wasn't at all strange to me. I was very familiar with the music.
A talented child will have a schedule that is horrendous. You get up and practice, go to school, practice some more, eat dinner, and then you have homework.
A lot of society tries to put people with disabilities into one cube, and when you think about it, many, many people have different types of disabilities, and you cannot put a code that applies to towards everyone - generally, they can be guidelines, but in the long run, interior designers and architects need more education on the subject.
I've been lucky to conduct the very best orchestras in the world: New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Berlin, the London Philharmonic.
Only one of my grandchildren is serious about a musical instrument. The others dabble in it.
I think that music has to do with what kind of passion do you have.
