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Do you that since ever I’ve all the time thinking what was the reasonfor any success I had in my life, because I certaintly do not play the piano as well as all the most pianists who play. I never worked as much as they do. They play the piano to perfection. I know young people now who play the piano..is …one can’t play it better. But then, when I hear them play that way I have my little question for them: When will start make music? Make music, you see. That’s something which preocupies me. Make music is something metaphysical. A painting is a painting. Visible It’s character is visible. A poem is visible on the paper. Music is visible but not all the way. I mean, it exist only because there other necessary tools, the other part of musicians, the interpreter. I belong to this group. I call interpreters good talents and the composers geniuses. [..] But what happened to me is something quite strange which I observe very often you see. I observe the fact that I come on the stage for a concert, which representation, I mean, this picture of what is happening is rather ridiculous. A fat little man like me appearing there in an evening dress, looks like an undertaker, funereally, and the piano has a little look of a coffin, if you like to know. And the public fills the whole, let’s say. It came up there good diner. The women look at each other, all the women’s dresses. Man think mostly about business, or some games or some sports, or God knows what. And there I have this crowd. Not entirely quite musical, not really knower of music but, who like music, who love music. And that is a very difficult proposition. I have to hold them, in attention by my emotion, nothing else. I can’t look at them, I can’t make faces, I can’t tell them: “Now comes the great moment”, “Now you listen”, “Now is a great thing for you hahaha” Nothing of the kind. I have to play. Look there, straight in front of me. But there is a certain antenna, a certain secret thing. There’s a thing that goes out, emanates from me. From my emotion, not from me, from my emotion, from the feeling. You like to call it soul, if you like to. I don’t know what soul means but is a word which one uses very much without knowing what it represents really. But, this something, let’s call it for the moment soul If you like, project something I do feel, I do feel that is doing it. It suddenly puts the audience into my hands. There’s a moment when I feel them all here. I can do anything. I can hold them with one little note in the air and they will not breed because they’ll wait for what happens next, what will come in the music. That is a great, great moment. not always does it happen but when it happens is a great moment of our lifes.
— Artur Rubinstein
