Nigel Kennedy Quotes

The art of interpretation is not to play what is written.

Some songs depend heavily on the character, but, for the most part, a great song begs for reinterpretation every time it is sung, even when in character.

Some people really want to play Mozart and be just performers. I was more interested in invention.

Well, I don't know any piece by heart, but Mozart goes something like this... What do you think?

There's some songs you can cover, and I've covered and butchered a few, but you can't do them all.

I may play the same songs night to night, but I never play them the same way.

Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.

When you're playing, you're playing something for the world to hear.

I may play the same program from one recital to the next, but I will play it differently, and because it is always different, it is always new.

When I'm performing music, it's like I'm doing a big improv.

I think all the music I do, which ties together, as far as I'm concerned, is fun and entertaining.

Music is something you can't really put in terms like in a sport, like running or football - that you win if you score more. In music, there's nothing like that.

At the end of the day, I am singing the composer's creation, and I follow the instructions given to me. What I feel may be a right take may not work for the composer or his vision on how he thinks the song should sound.

Music is the most important thing. I'm thinking of my future. There has to be something new, and I want to be part of it. I want to lead an orchestra with excellent musicians. I want to play music which draws pictures of the world and its space

I'm kind of lucky in the fact that I can take something that's in my head and write it down, or I can listen to a piece of music that somebody else has written and try to tap into what the music's saying and just kind of follow that, you know. I mean, nine times out of 10, I'm just kind of following where the music takes me.

It's a great honor when somebody takes your song and does something different with it. That's what music is all about: to constantly change what somebody else has done.

The conductor must breathe life into the score. It is you and you alone who must expose it to the understanding, reveal the hidden jewel to the sun at the most flattering angles.

Music is my life. I love doing it, so I just do it nonstop all day. And with dancing, I wanted to put on a show for people. I don't want to just be sitting there doing nothing, so that's when I started to dance.

Is it not the business of the conductor to convey to the public in its dramatic form the central idea of a composition; and how can he convey that idea successfully if he does not enter heart and soul into the life of the music and the tale it unfolds?

I don't have a classical-music mentality. I haven't been taught that way, and it doesn't fit my character, either.

Piano playing is a dying art. I love the fact that I can be one guy with one instrument evoking an emotional and musical experience.

Dylan doesn't have to make Blonde On Blonde every time.

How does my music connect to an audience? That is just a complete mystery to me.

No, we've been performing our old songs a little differently each performance.

If there's a song that stops meaning anything to me, then I'll quit playing it.