Ildikó Szabó

Which people would you invite as guests to your dream dinner party?

Antonio Stradivari, Camille Claudel, Salvador Dalí, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and many more. Musicians? I would only invite composers, who didn't write any major cello piece, like Mozart, Ravel, or Bartók. I would try to convince them.

What is your favorite meal?

Like with music, I don't really have a favorite. I eat everything, and my favorites are always seasonal, changing all the time. I adore great food, because I believe it is also an art.

Do you have a favorite motto or proverb that you live your life by?

Three quotes had especially great influence on me and they always help me to move on in difficult times, so I guess they become my mottos. From Baudelaire: work is less boring than amusing oneself, from Liszt: génie oblige! and from my father: I rest from one work with another.

Which person or people inspire you the most?

My family, friends, teachers, a nice walk, reading literature, going to concerts, lectures, exhibitions, movies, any kind of beauty, any kind of art, sharing ideas while playing chamber music, visiting/discovering new places.

If you were 80 years old, what advice would you give to young people today?

That everyone is a genius, they just have to find out, in what way, and then do it with passion and commitment. And they should always find something positive in every person they meet and learn from them.

What would you like people to say about you?

I like to believe that I'm a warmhearted, generous person, very honest, and curious, having a wide interest. I like to make people laugh and I think my humour is entertaining and my sense of sarcasm is challenging.

How do you overcome the stage fright? / What is your ritual before going on stage?

I don't think one should overcome the 'stage fright'. Most of the time it is a positive stress, an incredible shot of adrenalin, which I really enjoy. The actual 'fright', the negative kind of stress is an alarm sign that one was not preparing well enough physically and psychologically in the last few weeks/months/years. I like to have fish for lunch on the day of important concerts, if possible I like to take a nap. I like the ritual of getting dressed into concert clothes, putting make-up and parfume. What I really hate is to wait longer than absolutely needed before going on stage.

When you perform... who are you playing for?

I try to leave my ego in the dressing room and show all my love and respect towards the music I'm playing to the public. I think artists are the messengers between the composer and the public.

What job would you least like to do?

I could definitely not work in an office, all day long in a box, without natural light. I couldn't do any profession which is too monotonous. I could not do jobs which need any kind of aggression. I couldn't do jobs which are dealing too much with numbers and money. I could definitely not deal with jobs where I would daily see people die.

Is there a joke about musicians that you would like to share with us?

I know several viola jokes. But here is a quartet-joke which I heard recently: A quartet is shipwrecked on a desert island. They find a lamp from where a Genie appears. “I fulfill a wish from each of you!” he says. So the first violinist says: “ I actually never wanted to play in a quartet! I always wanted to be a soloist!” So the Genie is fulfilling his wish, he disappears from the desert island and becomes a worldwide-known soloist. The second violinist says: “ah, Genie, you know... I always wanted to be the first violinist of a famous quartet! It is not enough to be only the second fiddle!” Genie says: “no problem!” and the second violinist disappears as well and becomes the leader of a famous quartet. They even name the quartet after him! So now it is the cellist's turn: Genie, please, I'm tired of playing in a quartet. I'm too lazy to practice anymore. I want to conduct! So the cellist also disappears and becomes the new chéf of the Berlin Philharmonic. Only the violist is left. Genie asks him: so, you are the last one! What do You want? And so the viola player: “I don't really know... I was always quite happy with my quartet. Now they are all gone. I kind of miss them. Could you bring them back?”

What's the "most played" non-classical track on your phone?

I like to listen to jazz, so it would be something from Oscar Peterson or Keith Jarret or Brad Mehldau.

You are on a desert island and can bring only 3 items, what do you bring?

A magical table which has unlimited food and a magical bottle which has unlimited clean water. And connected to the joke: a magical lamp with a Genie. So I would have nice holidays and after one week I would ask Genie to bring me back home to Berlin.

What is your favorite noise/sound? What is the most annoying noise for you?

I like the sound of birds and the sea. I like when people laugh. Although the noise of a lawn mower or a coffee miller can be loud these still cannot annoy me, because I like the smell that they 'produce'. Annoying noise is from road constructions or I simply call it noise when people 'listen' to 'music' in a disco. I also find the background music in shopping malls annoying most of the time.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I honestly find Berlin, where I currently spend most of my time, the place to be.

What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word Tchaikovsky?

Ballet. Love for Mozart. And the famous Conservatory who gave the World so many incredible artists.

What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word competition?

Push myself over the limits. Compete against myself.