Steven Isserlis (@StevenIsserlis) / X

Steven Isserlis

24.6K posts

Steven Isserlis

@StevenIsserlis

Cellist of (and sometimes out of) sorts, Author, Father, Lover of Indian and other food and of the Marx Brothers and other people who make me laugh.

Joined July 2013

Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Apr 3, 2021
It's Easter! So I thought that a moment of joy from Bach - the Courante of the 1st suite - might be appropriate. Sorry - the sound isn't great (and I look most odd!); but I hope that the message from Mr Bach is clear: hope for renewed life and better times - and...HAPPY EASTER!
00:00
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Dec 1, 2019
It always frustrates me to hear people say that they don't go to concerts because they don't know enough about classical music. I think my friend Olli Mustonen had the answer to that: 'It's like saying that you won't walk in the forest because you don't know enough about botany.'
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Jan 26, 2023
Jacqueline du Pré would have been (only) 78 today! Still such an aching loss - the warmth of her personality was integral to her astonishing ability to communicate her deepest feelings through music. Unforgettable. "Playing lifts you out of yourself into a delirious place."
99K
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Jun 17, 2025
Like everyone else in the music world, I am so sad to hear about the departure of Alfred Brendel. He was a beacon of civilisation, a deeply cultured man who loved music passionately, shared that love widely and never compromised artistically or personally. He will be much missed.
77K
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Jun 5, 2023
A very happy birthday to much-beloved Martha Argerich - a living musical icon! Her volcanic temperament, allied with her delicacy, her ageless strength and brilliance, her unique charisma - no wonder she's adored. And a deeply warm, loyal person, too...a phenomenon.
104K
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Aug 28, 2024
Life advice from Goethe (b otd 1749): “Everyone should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of their life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”
101K
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Apr 18, 2022
Devastated to hear that Radu Lupu has left us. Not only one of the greatest, warmest, most profound musicians I've ever heard, but also a deeply kind, compassionate, modest and humorous man - and a wonderful friend. He was ready to go, true; but he'll still be desperately missed.
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Dec 30, 2022
Hmmm....I looked at the BBC's list of notable people who have died this year. It included tributes to many sorts of musicians - but not one 'classical'. I was hoping to see at least Radu Lupu's and Lars Vogt's names - but no; classical music is really sidelined. Why?
151K
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Aug 14, 2020
Steve Martin is 75 today! "I've got to keep breathing. It'll be my worst business mistake if I don't." "Boy, those French: they have a different word for everything!" “A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.” "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture."
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Dec 24, 2020
Not sure if this is appropriate to post - not exactly cheerful Christmas music! But thinking both of Ivry Gitlis and of all the people having to spend Christmas alone this year,I thought I'd play this Sarabande; because no matter how sad, Bach's music always makes one feel better
00:00
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Feb 10, 2019
Gosh, Germany... I approached check-in desk here in Berlin. The agent saw my cello, and started singing the opening of the Dvorak concerto. ‘The best,‘ she said. I argued that Schumann’s is equally great; but a tad different from the usual ‘have you got a seat for your guitar?’ !
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Jan 1, 2019
My cello just received a Happy Birthday email from an airline with which he holds an account. He's a bit embarrassed - says that actually the last touches to his scroll were put in place on 2nd, not 1st, January 1726. He wants me to send an email explaining, but it's a bit tricky
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Jan 26, 2020
Jacqueline du Pre would have been 75 today. Blessed with such talent for music, for loving, for life - and then taken away. But she left us so much; her classic recordings, of course, but also a legacy of inspiration for all musicians that still bears fruit every day. Thank you.
Steven Isserlis
@StevenIsserlis
Mar 20, 2020
Question for Twitter parents: I really don't want to start broadcasting from my music room, because there are no acoustics, and it would just be depressing, I think. BUT, with so many children at home, would a live, short children's concert next week be of interest, do you think?