Karine Georgian • cellist

The Russian-born cellist Karine Georgian studied with Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatoire before embarking on a distinguished international performance, recording and teaching career. Her new CD, Schumann: Music for Cello and piano, is released this month (March 2011) on Naxos.

“Practicing is like breathing: I feel very strange if I don’t do it.”

“You always find in the greatest masterpieces of Russian music and in performances by the greatest Russian interpreters, a sense of the vast expanse and grandeur of the Russian land, and also, if you will permit me, the depth of the Russian soul.”

“When making a recording, play every note as if to an invisible audience. The recording is not the end of the line. It is a snapshot: tomorrow you will play some things differently.”

“Listen to yourself, and to others. Music is not just notes and not just silences, it is a whole, and the whole is where the meaning lies.”

“Most technical challenges can be overcome by practice and relaxation. I sometimes think the biggest challenge of all is getting one’s instrument onto an aeroplane without breaking the bank or assaulting the ground staff, or both.”

“When making your debut performance, drive every single thought out of your head except the music. And be sure to go to the toilet before you go on stage!”