Zubin Mehta Quotes

I played piano, I learned a lot about music.

Scales played in the correct musical way are very exciting and rewarding.

The right notes mean more than 1,000 mph arpeggios.

I read and write classical piano and percussion, also guitar.

A melody is not merely something you can hum.

That's what it is that you rehearse - the making of music, not the playing of notes as abstractions.

Then certainly for a musician timing becomes something that is immediately accessible as a concept, because it's a necessity in ones everyday performance.

But a large symphony orchestra basically is a repertory company and it has a very enormous repertoire and it is important for the performers to be able to know how to shift focus so that they instantly become part of the sound world that a particular repertoire demands.

In symphonic music, when you are conducting, you do the same thing. You are feeling the whole orchestra, thinking ahead so you can prepare for a change.

You've got to be able to play in the box and play deep.

I play in tune like a cello player and use legitimate vibrato. There are no tricks; it's just all in the hands!

I play a very streamlined piano.

Just like using an instrument, a song calls for different things.

There's no performance where I never have to think about setting up a phrase or making a technical adjustment while I'm performing.

The value of music is to be able to play one note at the right time in the right way.

With the piano I'm completely in control of the gestural situation-not that I'm going to play the piece myself, but I know what's difficult, what's impossible.

I can sit on a chair with a score and give myself a wonderful performance.

When you play a concerto with a small orchestra, you don't feel it is as important as Carnegie Hall. You try to work out all the little problems. Once that's all done, trust comes in.

Mozart is always a bit of a challenge - you know, even though it is often given to very young singers, it is actually the most complicated to sing in many instances.

I'm an interpreter of music.

If you want me to play only the notes without any specific dynamics, I will never make one mistake.

My thinking musically has always been more advanced - it is difficult to get it down onto paper sometimes, even now.

I'm an intuitive musician. I have no real technical skills. I can only play six chords on the guitar.

A good interpreter can take a piece of bad music and make it sound pretty decent, while a bad interpreter can take good music and make it sound cheap. I can tell that some people have a bad taste, and unlike on the piano, they smear around a lot, that is bad taste.

My music is simple stuff. Anybody can sit down, look at a set of symbols and produce sounds the music represents.