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.
Interpretation
Engaging with an audience through personal stories enhances the overall experience for both the artist and the listeners.
In this quote, Itzhak Perlman highlights the importance of connection between the artist and the audience during recitals. By sharing personal anecdotes about music and his experiences, he brings listeners closer to the artistry, making them feel more involved and enriched by the performance. This interaction not only benefits the audience by deepening their appreciation for the music but also creates a fulfilling experience for the artist.
In practice
In a speech to aspiring musicians about the importance of connecting with their audience.
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.'
In difficult times, people just like to hear music. They like to be moved by what they hear. And music speaks different languages.
Sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.
For every child prodigy that you know about, at least 50 potential ones have burned out before you even heard about them.
I am playing the violin, that's all I know, nothing else, no education, no nothing. You just practice every day.
Israel is the country of my birth. When I come here, I feel I'm coming home.
I have become infected, now that I see how beautifully a book is coming out of all this.
I don't read music. I don't write it. So I wander around on the guitar until something starts to present itself.
Nonsense and beauty have close connections.
Dance music ... stirs some barbaric instinct - lulled asleep in our sober lives - you forget centuries of civilization in a second, & yield to that strange passion which sends you madly whirling round the room.
Frustration is one of the great things in art. Satisfaction is nothing.
I have a soft spot for art that, in terms of subject matter and material, is in bad taste.
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