Great artist
As a young cellist I had played to an audience that had included Pablo Casals and reacted with poor, nervous playing. Casals sought me out after the concert and praised me highly, somewhat easing the pain and thinking him a very kind man.
Years later I again ran into Casals and thanked him for being kind to a very nervous kid. Angry, he rushed to the cello. "Listen!" He played a phrase from the Beethoven sonata. "Didn't you play this fingering? It was novel to me. It was good. And here, didn't you attack that passage with an upbow, like this?" He went through Schumann and Bach, emphasizing all he liked that I had done.
"And for the rest," he said passionately, "leave it to the ignorant and stupid, who judge by counting only the faults. I can be grateful, and so must you be, for even one note, one wonderful phrase."
I left with the feeling of having been with a great artist and friend.
~ Gregor Piatigorsky
Years later I again ran into Casals and thanked him for being kind to a very nervous kid. Angry, he rushed to the cello. "Listen!" He played a phrase from the Beethoven sonata. "Didn't you play this fingering? It was novel to me. It was good. And here, didn't you attack that passage with an upbow, like this?" He went through Schumann and Bach, emphasizing all he liked that I had done.
"And for the rest," he said passionately, "leave it to the ignorant and stupid, who judge by counting only the faults. I can be grateful, and so must you be, for even one note, one wonderful phrase."
I left with the feeling of having been with a great artist and friend.
~ Gregor Piatigorsky
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