# ![@StevenIsserlis Avatar](https://lunarcrush.com/gi/w:26/cr:twitter::1620432468.png) @StevenIsserlis Steven Isserlis

Steven Isserlis posts on X about musicians, vienna, money, grace the most. They currently have [------] followers and [---] posts still getting attention that total [-----] engagements in the last [--] hours.

### Engagements: [-----] [#](/creator/twitter::1620432468/interactions)
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### Mentions: [--] [#](/creator/twitter::1620432468/posts_active)
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### Followers: [------] [#](/creator/twitter::1620432468/followers)
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### CreatorRank: [-------] [#](/creator/twitter::1620432468/influencer_rank)
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### Social Influence

**Social category influence**
[travel destinations](/list/travel-destinations)  11.97% [finance](/list/finance)  2.56% [celebrities](/list/celebrities)  2.56% [musicians](/list/musicians)  2.56% [countries](/list/countries)  1.71%

**Social topic influence**
[musicians](/topic/musicians) 5.13%, [vienna](/topic/vienna) 4.27%, [money](/topic/money) 2.56%, [grace](/topic/grace) #2778, [in the](/topic/in-the) 1.71%, [to the](/topic/to-the) 1.71%, [the great](/topic/the-great) 1.71%, [blend](/topic/blend) 1.71%, [venice](/topic/venice) 1.71%, [make a](/topic/make-a) 1.71%

**Top accounts mentioned or mentioned by**
[@bekibrindle](/creator/undefined) [@frisesally](/creator/undefined) [@rowenamezzo](/creator/undefined) [@jeremydenk](/creator/undefined) [@bernadettelyon](/creator/undefined) [@william24159371](/creator/undefined) [@paavojarvi](/creator/undefined) [@deborahfeder](/creator/undefined) [@wqxr](/creator/undefined) [@aanelvictoria](/creator/undefined) [@hughcanning](/creator/undefined) [@michael26353885](/creator/undefined) [@dougk57](/creator/undefined) [@joshuabellmusic](/creator/undefined) [@ireneduval](/creator/undefined) [@agnessaal16](/creator/undefined) [@mackinnondonald](/creator/undefined) [@gil21christ](/creator/undefined) [@houghhough](/creator/undefined) [@fionamaddocks](/creator/undefined)

**Top assets mentioned**
[Optimism (OP)](/topic/optimism) [Calvin (CALVIN)](/topic/calvin) [Alight, Inc. (ALIT)](/topic/$alit)
### Top Social Posts
Top posts by engagements in the last [--] hours

"Buster Keaton d otd [--] years ago What a wonderful comedian - travelling with his own pure logic through a mad world. And the amazing physical daring the perfect timing the supple grace and the beautiful features. A great artist who gave us not just laughter but true joy"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2017870030701211689)  2026-02-01T07:58Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"Anti-Nazi pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer b otd [---] years ago Brave wise humane and compassionate: Judging others makes us blind whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2018957446077690147)  2026-02-04T07:59Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"A very happy 80th to wonderful Charlotte Rampling Thoughts on acting: You give actually what you have in your inner world through your emotion and feeling. Thats what you can give; its not so much about acting in a sense of playing something thats very different to you"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2019317569099096108)  2026-02-05T07:50Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"Love this from Jules Verne (b otd 1828): The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert where man is never lonely for he feels life stirring on all sides.It is the Living Infinite"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2020405990772891880)  2026-02-08T07:55Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"Wisdom from Alban Berg b otd 1885: "Music is at once the product of feeling and knowledge; it requires from its disciples composers and performers alike not only talent and enthusiasm but also the knowledge and perception which are the result of endless study and reflection.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2020767246382166265)  2026-02-09T07:50Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"Wisdom - and encouragement - from Thomas Edison (b otd 1847): A genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework. There are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something. I never did a days work in my life it was all fun"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2021853780795396117)  2026-02-12T07:48Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"Felix Mendelssohn b otd [----] Composer of genius great pianist/organist/conductor/administrator fine artist (& violist) etc - astonishing. A master of romantic classicism - which makes the futuristic desperation in his last major work the quartet op [--] all the more moving"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2018591535084847277)  2026-02-03T07:45Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"Schumann's glorious Rhenish symphony premiered otd [---] years ago (1851) By no means his final masterpiece but perhaps his last 'popular' work. Taking in the Rhine at its most sparkling Cologne Cathedral at its most sombre and much else on the way - uplifting and thrilling"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2019677691826577653)  2026-02-06T07:41Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"Alas the great Daniil Shafran d otd [----]. As his widow said: 'My husband left too early.' At least there was no long illness: he'd asked his granddaughter to accompany him to the violin shop; she went to prepare heard him coughing - and that was it. The end of a great artist"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2020039828184707238)  2026-02-07T07:40Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"A strange thing just happened - again. I switched on the radio and heard the Elgar concerto. I knew it wasnt me because there were some fingerings I dont use - and the fast runs sounded clear But I identified with it somehow. And then: turned out WAS me with @paavo_jarvi"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2020468779365315057)  2026-02-08T12:04Z 43K followers, 20.3K engagements


"A very happy 99th to the great Leontyne Price On her art: To sing is the most human of the art form delivery.You are the tuner; you are the vessel. Everything depends on how you feel as a person. From you to you with much much love.There is no love like that"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2021130766621503877)  2026-02-10T07:55Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"Ive mixed feelings driverless taxis coming to London; but at least I wont have the problem (as in Milan today) of a stroppy driver trying to force me to put the cello in the bootconvinced that it was going to damage his seats (which it didnt even touch). One advantage of AI"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2021222434968338642)  2026-02-10T13:59Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"A very happy birthday to much-loved Joyce DiDonato - such a great communicator onstage and off. "I know that every time I step on the stage it's a real gift so I try not to take it for granted and I try to make it an experience that the public can really participate in.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2022216672275218841)  2026-02-13T07:50Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"Wonderful Jack Benny b otd 1894: "My wife Mary and I have been married for [--] years and not once have we had an argument serious enough to consider divorce; murder yes but divorce never." "Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind it doesn't matter.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2022578556690403412)  2026-02-14T07:48Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"Galileo b otd [----] Timeless. The Bible shows the way to go to heaven not the way the heavens go. It is surely harmful to souls to make it a heresy to believe what is proved. Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe "Passion is the root of genius.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2022939434308767815)  2026-02-15T07:42Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"Surprisingly neglected British composer Charles Avison b otd [----] in Newcastle. I love his concerti based (partly) on Scarlatti sonatas. 'The capacity of receiving pleasure from music is a peculiar and internal sense; but of a much more refined nature than the external senses.'"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2023305093861515545)  2026-02-16T07:55Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"I just had a session here in Budapest working with Gyorgy Kurtag who turns [---] Thursday. At one point he kept telling me to play a pizzicato note louder. But its marked softer than ppp I objected. He looked at me severely If its pppppp it must still sound. Fair enough"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/2023374340373283291)  2026-02-16T12:30Z 43K followers, [----] engagements


"It's Modesty Thursday Salvador Dali (d otd 1989): At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since. Every morning when I wake up I experience an exquisite joy the joy of being Salvador Dal.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1882382403211313301)  2025-01-23T10:58Z 41.9K followers, [----] engagements


"@deborah_feder @WQXR Maybe - but a talented one"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1882388269629071834)  2025-01-23T11:21Z 42K followers, [---] engagements


"Winston Churchill d otd [--] yrs ago This is the lesson: never give in never never neverin nothing great or small large or pettynever give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1882696085723906395)  2025-01-24T07:45Z 41.9K followers, 15.4K engagements


"Wisdom from Dietrich Bonhoeffer b otd [----] The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present but it is a source of inspiration of vitality and hope where others have resigned; it enables a man to claim the future for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1886762755526479885)  2025-02-04T13:04Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"A very happy 98th to the legend Leontyne Price "Art is the only thing you cannot punch a button for. You must do it the old-fashioned way. Stay up and really burn the midnight oil. There are no compromises." "Accomplishments have no colour." "Who I am is the best I can be.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1888948183310459119)  2025-02-10T13:48Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"My musical nightmare last night: I was playing Haydn's D major concerto and when it came to the cadenza I blanked - couldn't remember my own cadenza And more worrying still: when I woke up I STILL couldn't remember it Took me ten minutes or so before it came back. Hmm"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1893948866245906517)  2025-02-24T08:59Z 41.9K followers, [----] engagements


"Inspiration from Victor Hugo b otd 1802: "Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." "He who opens a school door closes a prison." "To love beauty is to see light." "Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1894656898751975807)  2025-02-26T07:53Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"Wisdom from the wonderful Marian Anderson b otd [----] - what an artist; what a woman "You lose a lot of time hating people." "Where there is money there is fighting." "My mission is to leave behind me the kind of impression that will make it easier for those who follow.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1895026584513392744)  2025-02-27T08:22Z 41.9K followers, [----] engagements


"Bedich Smetana b otd [----] - such an important figure; and so much glorious music. (Is there a more beautiful melody than the one in Vltava/The Moldau) Truly 'the 'father of Czech music'. " am glad to be able to show that my fatherland means more to me than anything else""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1896161415368724989)  2025-03-02T11:31Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"Bizet's opera Carmen first performed otd [---] years ago Alas the premiere was a failure; and tragically Bizet died shortly thereafter before it became a success. And what a success The colours melodies characterisation; and the vivid blend of exotic/erotic: a masterpiece"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1896478794980245941)  2025-03-03T08:32Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"Antonio Vivaldi b otd [----]. A prolific composer of music ranging (I feel) from formulaic (might some of his concertos have been produced by his students My sister believes so) to blazingly imaginative and vivid. "The Seasons" really are extraordinary A major voice anyway"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1896839958012604879)  2025-03-04T08:27Z 41.9K followers, [----] engagements


"Nice coincidence that we arrived in Venice on Vivaldis birthday"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1897012539952914794)  2025-03-04T19:53Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"Apart from everything else Venice is a wonderful venue for composer pilgrimages - eg: St Mark's (Monteverdi of course); Chiesa San Giovanni where Vivaldi was baptised; a Mozart site; and the Palazzo Barbaro-Wolkoff where Faur stayed and conceived his 'melodies de Venise'"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1897643308962247089)  2025-03-06T13:39Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"Good/bad day for originality in music. Two composers seemingly way ahead of their times: CPE Bach (b otd 1714) and Hector Berlioz (d otd 1869) both composed works that still sound dazzlingly modern today - full of wild fantasy unpredictable twists and extraordinary imagination"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1898322610946990230)  2025-03-08T10:39Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"@AanelVictoria @hugh_canning Some of Strauss's letters would rather contradict that. True that he insisted on working with Stefan Zweig; but his letters to Zweig show at best a blindness to the plight of Jewish people under the Nazis. Still an amazing composer however"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1899747318577946678)  2025-03-12T09:00Z 42K followers, [--] engagements


"Hugo Wolf b otd [----]. A master of song; but not easy On Brahms: "(His music) reeks of lethal intent and should really be forbidden by the police" On Richard Strauss: "I'd rather be an untalented poltroon". Even on his hero Wagner: "Wagners excesses degrade one into a worm""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1900102030028660950)  2025-03-13T08:30Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"J S Bach b otd (os) [----] A musical deity - not just for his perfection (as his first biographer put it for Bach a fugue was 'as natural as a simple minuet'); but even more because of his understanding and depiction of every shade of profound emotion. Humanity at its finest"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1903008887697015173)  2025-03-21T09:00Z 42K followers, 12.8K engagements


"Cartoonist/musician/hilarious speaker Gerard Hoffnung born otd [---] years ago This was one of my Desert Island Discs choices: But Hoffnung was also a deeply serious good man - a prison visitor Quaker and passionate advocate for the arts. Marvellous. https://www.youtube.com/watchv=bXns4yRUn7k https://www.youtube.com/watchv=bXns4yRUn7k"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1903350752765947920)  2025-03-22T07:39Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"Music day Bartok (b otd 1881): "Music is the language of the heart and the soul." Elton John (b otd 1947): "Music has the power to heal. It can bring people together and transcend barriers." Debussy (d otd 1918): "Music is a free art boundless as the elements.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1904454871685665191)  2025-03-25T08:46Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"My musical nightmare last night: I was playing Britten's 3rd suite for the first time in a long while. It was a disaster - although I was using the music I was completely lost; and gradually people started walking out - first a trickle then a flood. I was SO glad to wake up"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1904824128542044496)  2025-03-26T09:13Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"@rowenamezzo Thanks Rowena - signed. My father remembered hearing him at the [----] Vienna competition- my grandfather was on the jury"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1904825560896856245)  2025-03-26T09:19Z 42K followers, [--] engagements


"'Slava' Rostropovich would have been [--] today Impossible to imagine: he was the embodiment of youthful energy magnetic charisma. A complicated character yes; but unique sweeping aside all challenges and in doing so enriching the cello repertoire hugely. Slava/glory indeed"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1905167911469150376)  2025-03-27T08:00Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"@Michael26353885 Not only that I played with him as a conductor: Haydn D in St Petersburg Britten Cello Symphony in San Francisco"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1905382998955941984)  2025-03-27T22:14Z 42K followers, [--] engagements


"At Beethoven's funeral otd [----] a vast crowd assembled - perhaps 10% of the population (possibly equivalent to [------] in Vienna today). When one thinks how far ahead of his time his last works were it's impressive - miraculous - that so many realised his indelible importance"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1905886392753803709)  2025-03-29T07:35Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"Brahms d otd [----]. It seems to me so moving that in his last works (eg the late piano pieces the clarinet quintet) while never abandoning his characteristic romantic classicism and purity he became again an utterly free spirit a visionary - as if reaching for another world"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1907693550457987399)  2025-04-03T07:16Z 41.9K followers, [----] engagements


"Norbert Brainin leader of the Amadeus quartet d otd [--] years ago. What a character - and what a musician Unique irreplaceable. The quartet changed everything: their recordings of the standard repertoire sold millions setting a new standard and influencing all who followed"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1910228755546599552)  2025-04-10T07:10Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"Dudley Moore would have been [--] today Wonderful comedian/actor/musician. And yet - troubled.By the time I knew him he seemed to care most about piano-playing apparently regretting not having pursued a career as a classical pianist. But his other talents produced so much joy"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1913491756173189464)  2025-04-19T07:16Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"@jeremydenk SO few non-musicians speak the language of music. (Maybe not that many musicians either). This passage is a warning to us all not to express a bold opinion about something we really dont understand"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1913927275310968905)  2025-04-20T12:06Z 42K followers, [---] engagements


"Beloved conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky b otd [----] - a unique irreplaceable character and musician with a permanent twinkle in his eye and a magical technique. When I played with him he'd sometimes stop the orchestra and apologise: 'I'm sorry - I was conducting too loud.'"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1918927071213937002)  2025-05-04T07:14Z 42.1K followers, [----] engagements


"A very happy 75th to Stevie Wonder Wonderful artist wonderful man. Music is a world within itself with a language we all understand. "Ability may get you to the top but it takes character to keep you there." The Lord that I serve says the impossible is unacceptable"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1922176733823820080)  2025-05-13T06:27Z 42K followers, [----] engagements


"Happy 83rd to Bob Dylan Poetic wisdom: "Take care of all your memories. For you cannot relive them." "I consider myself a poet first and a musician second. I live like a poet and I'll die like a poet." "Yesterday's just a memory tomorrow is never what it's supposed to be.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1926168536927379644)  2025-05-24T06:49Z 42.1K followers, [----] engagements


"Diarist Samuel Pepys d otd [----] - naughty man "Saw a wedding in the church. It was strange to see what delight we married people have to see these poor fools decoyed into our condition. I to church and with my mourning very handsome and new periwigg make a great shew"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1926991347392594433)  2025-05-26T13:18Z 42.1K followers, [----] engagements


"John Calvin d otd [----]. As a curious sideline - we cellists are grateful to him Much of Bach's instrumental music was written in Cthen where his employer was a Calvinist - hence no music was allowed in church. So Bach turned to instrumental music - including the cello suites"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1927252177338109995)  2025-05-27T06:35Z 42.1K followers, [----] engagements


"@DougK57 Haydn wrote to Beethovens patron in Bonn asking for a rise in Beethovens stipendium and listing several new works which Beethoven had told him hed composed in Vienna. The Elector wrote back pointing out that Beethoven had written those works before he left Bonn"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1929029519244996686)  2025-06-01T04:17Z 42.1K followers, [--] engagements


"Marilyn Monroe would have been [--] today I am not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful. Hollywood is a place where theyll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul. Only the public can make a star." Its a make-believe world"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1929069401354932497)  2025-06-01T06:56Z 42.1K followers, [----] engagements


"Happy birthday to ageless musical miracle Martha Argerich Uniquely beloved - perhaps in part because she is such a 'people' person: a fiercely loyal friend who loves to party to laugh (and gossip). And perennially modest: 'forgive my sins' she says as she walks onstage"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1930519204488532003)  2025-06-05T06:57Z 42.1K followers, 14.5K engagements


"Thoughts on nature/art from John Constable (b otd 1776): "The world is wide. No two days are alike nor even two hours neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of the world; and similarly genuine productions of art are all distinct from each other.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1932691770271572431)  2025-06-11T06:50Z 42.1K followers, [----] engagements


"Anne Frank b otd 1929: "The best remedy for those who are afraid lonely or unhappy is to go outside somewhere where they can be quiet alone with the heavens nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be." Alas - she couldn't do that herself"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1933051389716136198)  2025-06-12T06:39Z 42.1K followers, [----] engagements


"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"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1934988233818984937)  2025-06-17T14:55Z 42.2K followers, 75.9K engagements


"Brian Wilson would have been [--] today. Alas. I like this: "I have to tell you that J.S. Bach was easily the greatest musical innovator in the history of the world. He was so advanced. There's a spiritual depth to his music. You can listen to it and it's like meditation.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1935950240957202446)  2025-06-20T06:38Z 42.2K followers, [----] engagements


"Remembering Claudio Abbado b otd [----]. A conductor who managed to be in full control without being controlling; who observed strict classical disciplines but was also spontaneous; and a musician whose art became even more profound impressive and moving as he grew older"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1938122555417842075)  2025-06-26T06:30Z 42.2K followers, 15.6K engagements


"Leo Janek b otd [----]. An utterly unique musical voice - he created his own language based on speech rhythms and influenced by folk songs. His music conveys an extraordinary blend of wild passion profound compassion and tenderness and at times an almost childlike innocence"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1940658012785725748)  2025-07-03T06:25Z 42.2K followers, 12.3K engagements


"Intriguing wisdom from Nathaniel Hawthorne b otd 1804: "Happiness is a butterfly which when pursued is always just beyond your grasp but which if you will sit down quietly may alight upon you." "Selfishness is one of the qualities apt to inspire love." (Is that true)"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1941023167637528673)  2025-07-04T06:36Z 42.2K followers, [----] engagements


"Team Faur (@jeremydenk @JoshuaBellMusic @irene_duval Blythe Engstroem and I) are reunited. Late Faur is so addictive One goes through four stages: 1) not understanding it; 2) it suddenly becoming clear; 3) getting addicted to it; 4) feeling a powerful mission to share it"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1941390085351489849)  2025-07-05T06:54Z 42.2K followers, [----] engagements


"Happy birthday to David Hockney "I draw flowers every day and send them to my friends so they get fresh blooms every morning." "What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something because of course art is about sharing." "You must plan to be spontaneous""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1942837875453698471)  2025-07-09T06:47Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"A very happy 98th () to Herbert Blomstedt. He is a miracle - seems to have discovered the secret of eternal youth And such a warm refined natural musician; and the same in personal terms - such a wonderful man. Thank you for the joy you bring Maestro Blomstedt"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1943641187421736994)  2025-07-11T11:59Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"Thoughts on mortality from Hilaire Belloc (d otd 1953): "Loss and possession death and life are one There falls no shadow where there shines no sun." "When I am dead I hope it may be said: His sins were scarlet but his books were read.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1945377610126483643)  2025-07-16T06:59Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"So sad to hear that Sir Roger Norrington has left us. Such a unique life-affirming character and musician. I think that he always felt like an outsider - which made him insecure but also contributed to the freshness and originality of his music-making. Farewell and thank you"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1946231986680418745)  2025-07-18T15:33Z 42.3K followers, 57.3K engagements


"Artistic wisdom from Edgar Degas (b otd 1834): "Painting is easy when you don't know how but very difficult when you do." "In painting you must give the idea of the true by means of the false." "Art is not what you see but what you make others see.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1946462257417801800)  2025-07-19T06:49Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"Returning from my first ever foreign trip in order to see an opera - Faurs glorious Pnlope (well worth the effort). And the joy of travelling without a cello Everyone should try it onceOnly SLIGHTLY marred by the panics every five minutes :Oh God - Where is it"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1946515015059812737)  2025-07-19T10:18Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"Timeless inspiration from Petrarch (b otd 1304): "Love is the crowning grace of humanity the holiest right of the soul the golden link which binds us to duty and truth the redeeming principle that chiefly reconciles the heart to life and is prophetic of eternal good.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1946827161933172881)  2025-07-20T06:59Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"The great violinist/musician - and major cultural figure - Isaac Stern b otd 1920: "Music is not an acquired culture. it is an active part of life." "A man possesses talent; genius possesses the man." "Music is like making love: either all or nothing.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1947185774644150333)  2025-07-21T06:44Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"Words of wisdom from Mick Jagger - [--] today Hard to believe. "The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or regret it; but I don't want to be its prisoner either." "Lose your dreams and you might lose your mind." Don't you think it's sometimes wise not to grow up"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1948999475839549601)  2025-07-26T06:51Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"Ernst von Dohnnyi b otd 1877: a true master of music - wonderful composer and pianist. He was revered in his day but alas his fame has paled. Such a pity - when they are heard his works are loved by both players and audiences; but somehow he fell out of step with his times"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1949357585565671438)  2025-07-27T06:34Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"So wonderful to be back playing for the very special public in Japan. But in other places too (especially the US and China) audiences have become much more silent in the past years. I fear that those prophesying the death of classical music are doomed to disappointment"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1949412582328336812)  2025-07-27T10:12Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"Alas Robert Schumann died abject and alone otd [----]. The story of his last years is unbearably tragic; but it must not overshadow the joy of his music. Yes there is much darkness there but also much light - there is everything No composer has confided in us more intimately"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1950082613135180170)  2025-07-29T06:35Z 42.3K followers, 10.7K engagements


"Great conductor Georg Szell d otd [----]. A man of strong opinions. On opera directors: 'They seem to delight in going against what the composers and their librettists expressly demanded.' And on trendy contemporary music (in 1969): 'Not complicated but frankly plain boring.'"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1950454166788149540)  2025-07-30T07:11Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"Franz/Ferenc Liszt d otd [----] under the unloving care of his daughter Cosima (Wagner). A sad end to a fascinating life - an unparalleled virtuoso a master conductor a fascinating amazingly varied and inventive composer and a hugely generous supporter of other musicians"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1950803614340882445)  2025-07-31T06:20Z 42.4K followers, 10.8K engagements


"Evergreen wisdom from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (d otd 2008): Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty. "Intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education." "The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1951893294734291435)  2025-08-03T06:30Z 42.3K followers, [----] engagements


"The wonderful Hans Gal b otd [----]. A major composer and true musician who made it his business to study every instrument in the orchestra - as he told us when he was [--]. 'Yes' added his wife. 'Hans worked very hard when he was young. I only hope it hasn't shortened his life.'"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1952620585948995627)  2025-08-05T06:40Z 42.4K followers, [----] engagements


"Alfred Lord Tennyson b otd [----] - so wise: "Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all." "Hope Smiles from the threshold of the year to come." "Knowledge comes but wisdom lingers." "Dreams are true while they last and do we not live in dreams""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1952976682564108505)  2025-08-06T06:15Z 42.4K followers, [----] engagements


"What a wonderful trip to Seoul I loved everything - the people the audience the city the food (even if I now feel a bit like a walking clove of garlic) etc. Some unusual shop names though"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1954013943300563236)  2025-08-09T02:56Z 42.4K followers, [----] engagements


"Oscar Peterson b [---] years ago Wonderful musician - & man: "The music field was the first to break down racial barriers because in order to play together you have to love the people you are playing with and if you have any racial inhibitions you wouldn't be able to do that.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1956237670356570616)  2025-08-15T06:13Z 42.4K followers, [----] engagements


"Mae West b otd [----] "I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it. There are no good girls gone wrong - just bad girls found out. I wrote the story myself. It's about a girl who lost her reputation and never missed it. I'm single because I was born that way"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1956973267056836793)  2025-08-17T06:56Z 42.4K followers, [----] engagements


"And inspiration for young musicians from beloved Ivry Gitlis b otd 1922: "Dear young colleagues of the up-and-coming generation please have the courage to be yourselves to take risks.Practise your instrument in order to free yourself.to be able to create when you play.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1959868846858228134)  2025-08-25T06:42Z 42.4K followers, [----] engagements


"After a short break back to concerts - and the nightmares return.Last night I was on a train to a rehearsal when I realised that I'd left my cello behind So I got off - and left my jacket (with phone) on the train. Then couldn't find the platform for the return train. Joy"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1960977799679824197)  2025-08-28T08:08Z 42.4K followers, [----] engagements


"Morning wisdom from J R Tolkien (d otd 1973): I wish it need not have happened in my time" said Frodo. "So do I" said Gandalf "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1962773236296622323)  2025-09-02T07:03Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"I'm a complete ignoramus in pop music; but I can't stop listening my latest musical crush The Travelling Wilburys (only [--] years late). This is such perfect chamber music No competition - just five great musicians communicating and enjoying each other: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=UMVjToYOjbM&ab_channel=OfficialWilburyVEVO https://www.youtube.com/watchv=UMVjToYOjbM&ab_channel=OfficialWilburyVEVO"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1963274108348625200)  2025-09-03T16:13Z 42.5K followers, 11K engagements


"Anton Bruckner b otd [----]. For some his symphonies will always be too long - or pretentious perhaps. But in a great performance (such as the one I heard many years ago by the Vienna PO/Jochum) the power the vision the poetry the sincerity of the music can be overwhelming"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1963495745358602703)  2025-09-04T06:54Z 42.5K followers, 11.8K engagements


"Very sad to hear of the death of the Duchess of Kent. Apart from her myriad other qualities she was a true music-lover. I was once rehearsing with an orchestra near Manchester. We were joined onstage by a class of schoolchildren - accompanied by their teacher Mrs Kent"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1963948427663835453)  2025-09-05T12:52Z 42.5K followers, 14.3K engagements


"Striking words from Elizabeth 1st (b otd 1533): "Let tyrants fear I have always so behaved myself that under God I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects." "I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1964581398867591511)  2025-09-07T06:48Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"@agnessaal16 Yes - when she wasn't killing people"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1964604332181242105)  2025-09-07T08:19Z 42.5K followers, [---] engagements


"Fascinating: Beethoven played Mozart's D minor concerto in Vienna at a concert organised by Constanze shortly after Mozart's death. How was it Or Brahms playing the Schumann concerto; Taneyev the Brahms D minor; Rachmaninov an all-Scriabin recital; etc etc. They all happened"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1964738286834090077)  2025-09-07T17:11Z 42.5K followers, 10.4K engagements


"Antonn Dvok b otd [----] Was there ever a more loveable composer His incredible gift for melody the strong ties to his folk roots - expressed through his rhythmic vitality - the mastery of classical structures his sheer love of life: it all adds up to uniquely glorious music"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1964945045196304546)  2025-09-08T06:53Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"@MackinnonDonald And one (or was it the St John) conducted by Enesco"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1965019224352661677)  2025-09-08T11:47Z 42.6K followers, [--] engagements


"The great Henry Purcell b otd [----] "As poetry is the harmony of words so music is that of notes.music is the exaltation of poetry." Or rather less exalted: ''Tis women who make us love; 'tis love that makes us sad; 'tis sadness makes us drink; 'tis drink that makes us mad.'"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1965666549441724625)  2025-09-10T06:40Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Jean-Philippe Rameau great composer/character ('as great an eccentric as he is a musician' - Voltaire) d otd [----]. "Nature endows us with the feeling that moves us in all our musical experiences; we might call her gift instinct." "Rhythm and sounds are born with syllables.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1966398371461034063)  2025-09-12T07:08Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Elevated reflections from Dante Alighieri (d otd 1321): Because your question searches for deep meaning I shall explain in simple words. Wisdom is earned not given. "You have built yourselves a god from silver and gold. How does that differ from worship of an idol""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1967117107587408204)  2025-09-14T06:44Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Jessye Norman would have been [--] otd What a glorious artist - charismatic and unforgettable. One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything really. There must be love and a vocation. I am grateful that my horizons were not narrowed at the outset. Yes"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1967475974494368137)  2025-09-15T06:30Z 42.5K followers, 10.3K engagements


"Gloomy but alas all too apt thoughts from Samuel Johnson (b otd 1709): He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man. I hate mankind for I think myself one of the best of them and I know how bad I am. Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1968569930443296780)  2025-09-18T06:57Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Prague this evening - what a city"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1969450859206754755)  2025-09-20T17:17Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Gustav Holst b otd [----] - so wise Music being identical with heaven isn't a thing of momentary thrills.It's a condition of eternity. Every artist ought to pray that he's not "a success". If he's a failure he stands a chance of producing the best work of which he's capable"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1969657597067477097)  2025-09-21T06:59Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Isaac Stern d otd [----] - a great musician who cared about music's future: "I have a responsibility to pass on to the next generation what I learned from my teachers . It keeps me young and reminds me where I came from. Teaching young artists is like giving water to a flower.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1970016209727893827)  2025-09-22T06:44Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Sigmund Freud (d otd 1939): Every night human beings lay aside the wrappings in which they have enveloped their skinAnd when they go to sleep they carry out an analogous undressing of their minds. The dream is the liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1970380610813227136)  2025-09-23T06:52Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Thoughts on writing from F Scott Fitzgerald (b otd 1896): That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong. "An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1970741237184635219)  2025-09-24T06:45Z 42.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Bla Bartk d otd [--] years ago His eyes. In art there are only fast or slow developments. Essentially it is a matter of evolution not revolution. With maturity comes the wish to economise to be more simple." And SO true: Competitions are for horses not artists. Yes"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1971462238843310195)  2025-09-26T06:30Z 42.5K followers, 10K engagements


"I love this from the conductor Charles Mnch b otd [----] on his art: "The collective conscience of a hundred musicians is no light burden. Think for a moment of what it would mean to a pianist if by some miracle every key of his instrument should suddenly become a living thing.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1971471298015658449)  2025-09-26T07:06Z 42.5K followers, [---] engagements


"Edgar Degas (d otd 1917) on art falsity - and boredom "One sees what one wants to see. It is false and that falsity is the foundation of art." "I'm glad to say I haven't found my style yet. I'd be bored to death." "Boredom soon overcomes me when I am contemplating nature.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1971827646096179453)  2025-09-27T06:42Z 42.6K followers, [----] engagements


"Curiously [--] famous musicians d otd at age 50: violinist Georg Kulenkampff (1948) and Glenn Gould (1982). GG beloved of course; but GK Georg Solti (when a refugee) recorded with him; I asked him what he was like. "Very nice man." "Wasn't he a Nazi" "Oh yes - but nice man""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1974364360819577033)  2025-10-04T06:42Z 42.6K followers, [----] engagements


"@Gil21christ @houghhough Maybe it's because taking the photo took so long in those days - hard to keep up a smile for all that time"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1975116869721022840)  2025-10-06T08:32Z 42.6K followers, [--] engagements


"@bernadette_lyon Really Oh no"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1975119595527905791)  2025-10-06T08:43Z 42.6K followers, [--] engagements


"@bernadette_lyon Oy vey. Sorry. But they're still good quotes"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1975154371227947281)  2025-10-06T11:01Z 42.6K followers, [--] engagements


"Giuseppe Verdi b otd [----] A composer with extraordinary powers of communication - music from the heart to the heart: "I adore art. when I am alone with my notes my heart pounds and the tears stream from my eyes and my emotion and my joys are too much to bear.""  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1976540197912522777)  2025-10-10T06:48Z 42.6K followers, [----] engagements


"Pavarotti would have been [--] today I love these words: "For me music making is the most joyful activity possible the most perfect expression of any emotion." And I love this video: Perlman really impressive But then we hear the voice of an angel. https://www.youtube.com/watchv=8yNjH-IrFxE https://www.youtube.com/watchv=8yNjH-IrFxE"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1977264470540853507)  2025-10-12T06:46Z 42.6K followers, [----] engagements


"A STRANGE birthday coincidence: Margaret Thatcher and comedian Lenny Bruce both b otd [---] years ago. Not much in common Well I suppose either could have said this: No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions; he had money as well. (Guess who did)"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1977627109914009659)  2025-10-13T06:47Z 42.6K followers, [----] engagements


"Interesting pair b otd: Nietzsche (1844) and PG Wodehouse (1881). A tad contrasted - even in their attitudes to each other's work: Nietzsche: A joke is an epigram on the death of a feeling. Jeeves to Bertie: You would not enjoy Nietzsche sir. He is fundamentally unsound"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1978365223720370668)  2025-10-15T07:40Z 42.6K followers, [----] engagements


"Just now in an elevator in my Tokyo hotel I encountered a fellow-Brit here on business. Between the first and sixth floors we established that his wife was a teacher at my primary school The world is tolerably small"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/1978380331196600473)  2025-10-15T08:40Z 42.6K followers, [----] engagements


"@FionaMaddocks @sheilahayman Ah - you meant Sheila. Quite right"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/875687542686973952)  2017-06-16T12:12Z 42.4K followers, [--] engagements


"My first ever meal in Indonesia - slightly more colourful than an equivalent first meal in the UK might be"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/916217870413045760)  2017-10-06T08:25Z 42.7K followers, [--] engagements


"Grr.@BBCRadio3 : I just switched on & heard the 1st movement of the Mozart oboe quartet. It ended and I looked forward to the slow mvt - but no: on came some guitar music. Do you REALLY think your listeners have such a bad case of ADD that we can't take a whole Mozart quartet"  
[X Link](https://x.com/StevenIsserlis/status/986551686356525057)  2018-04-18T10:27Z 42.4K followers, [---] engagements

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