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L y n n H a r r e l l M u s i c Lynn Harrell: I've always laughed because I pointed out to Alfred Brendel that he answered this sort of a question, of what pianists he admired, only with pianists who had long died; I said, "What would you say about a conductor?" He has a wonderful sense of humor, and he said, "Well, conductor? My favorite conductor must be Mendelsohn." It's very easy to go back to far in the past because history has shown that the divisions of what some of these artists had as performers was beyond their time, so I think I have to say Toscanini and Furtwaengler and Heifetz. Lynn Harrell on musicians he respects Lynn Harrell: Well, when I get really deeply involved in some of these pieces, when I'm on a project to learn more deeply, then yes, I'm sort of out to lunch as is my family's expression, "Dad's off thinking about his music." Sometimes I am just sort of dreaming, and I snap out of it, and I don't know whether I was thinking about a musical phrase or anything else in particular; it's just kind of idling, like the motor's idling time. But generally, it fluctuates very deeply. I could be absolutely consumed with fixing something in the house, and after or slightly before finishing, I've just got to go look at a musical score or pick up my cello and that can last for an hour or maybe more, and then I'm happy to not do anything the rest of the day if I don't have to be really in training for a concert. So it varies as if there's another part of my mind that is running this show and deciding for itself when I will get down to the nitty-gritty and brass tacks of my artistic work, and I fit everything else in around it. It used to be many years ago that I was pretty much consumed only with music, where I just was not a member of human society or life at all, and I slowly came out of that and just blossomed, and it was such a wonderful, warming aspect of my life and growth. Lynn Harrell on what he does when not playing the cello Lynn Harrell: I haven't thought about that so much in the other arts other than music. I used to think that I was very akin and close to Schubert, but that sort of diminished a great deal when I got past the age of thirty-one, when Schubert died; and I thought, well, he wasn't there anymore because he was always just a young man. No, I think there are just aspects that I identify with various artists that make me feel that are very much like me or what I value and prize: Goya's strength and power and uncompromising quivering energy, I like to think that I have that sometimes; let's see if I can think of another example; I always liked the late portraits of Rembrandt, the feeling in the eyes of acceptance and sadness, and I identify with that with being reflective of what I'm like. But I think that any of the really great creators in their fields can make you feel not alone when you're involved with them, reading them, seeing them, hearing them, and that's their blessing. Lynn Harrell on feeling connections with people in the arts Veery 1995 
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