‘I know India through food and novels of Rohinton, my friend’

Steven Isserlis is stuck at a hotel in Buenos Aires. He was supposed to be on a flight to Frankfurt, but got “kicked off”. He suspects it was because of his cello. His adjoining seat was booked for the big but delicate instrument, a 300-year-old Stradivari, but the airline is likely to have confused it for a zombie. It isn’t the first time either. Whenever the flub occurs, the British cellist vents about it on Twitter (now X) in gruesome detail. He also tweets about everything under the sun, though his own world is one woven by Bach and Schumann. Madonna, Tagore, Stephen Fry, Coco Chanel, Tolkien, The Beatles, Robert Redford, Mae West…it is a long and ridiculous list, peppered with pearls like how he didn’t find a stuffed lizard at a Rio buffet tempting, and how Flop, his cat’s son, made his concert dress into a litter. He speaks to TOI ahead of his visit to Mumbai.

‘Call me Steve’

Maestro, good morning. I was supposed to call you for an interview.

Yuh. I know.

If you were in Bombay, I would have treated you to coffee or a nice whiskey.

Nawww, thank you. I can do with good coffee...And you can call me Steve. Steven.

You are known for your interest in India. How so?

I think two ways. I love Indian food, among my favourites in the world. And then also all the novels I’ve read about India. Especially those by my great friend Rohinton Mistry. Also by other people…I know most of them. Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, and a few others. But Rohinton, I know the best. I just love his writing...I read all the time. At the moment I’m reading a novel about Egypt.


A Harpo Marxist

You tweet a lot. We learn that you grew up on The Beatles. What made you choose classical music? You could have been a popstar.

Hahaha, I doubt it. But thank you. Aaa, umm I would say that I was born into classical music. My grandfather [Julius Isserlis, born in 1888 in Moldova, then in the Russian Empire] was a famous pianist and composer, and my father played the violin. My mother was a piano teacher. Both my elder sisters are musicians and so on. It was just another language for us, music. Ya. There was no way I was going to be a pop musician.

But with your hair, you could have been a rock star.

Thank you! Well, my hair is fairly common in classical music. Simon Rattle, for instance...

How about Misha Maisky?

Misha Maisky! My hair twin exactly!

I think there’s a resemblance between the two of you.

Yes, especially from the back.

Hahahahahahahaha…

We’ve been photographed a lot from the back, and it’s hard to tell who’s who! But…from the front… ya well, there’s a resemblance. We are great friends anyway.

We also learn from your tweets that you are a Marxist, but of the Groucho variety.

Well, Harpo really.

Harpo! Sorry about that…

Harpo is my favourite.

Ok, Harpo Marxist, yes. How do you distinguish between the Marx Brothers, and how is it that your interests are so eclectic?

Film, books, music, are all quite related, really. Umm. All right, the Marx Brothers, well are very different. Harpo was always my hero of heroes. I need to watch him every so often. His son actually is a great friend of mine. One of my fa vourite people in the world. Bill Marx [pianist and composer]. Wonderful man.


‘Got kicked off flight’

What are the challenges of travelling with a cello?

It’s a nightmare. Even now, I’m sitting here in Buenos Aires, I shouldn’t be here. I should have been on a flight yesterday to Frankfurt and I just got kicked off...and I think it must have been because of the cello...They offered me a flight tomorrow, and only when my brilliant agent in London got onto the phone was I able to get a flight today. Well, I’m not on it yet. Then I have to travel from Paris to London by train and there’ll be a problem with the cello there. It’s never-ending.

You call London home. Do you have homes elsewhere?

No. it’s just London, though I’m hardly ever there really.

How often do you travel?

I would say... 8 to 9 months.

Do you holiday at all?

Not recently, no.

You are a workaholic.

Ya...But at the moment, I wouldn’t mind a bit of a holiday

Ok. You play on five cellos. Is that correct?

Haha. I have five cellos…Well, I’ve got access to five cellos. I mean, the one I mostly play, the ‘Marquis de Coberon’ Stradivarius...It belongs to the Royal Academy of Music. The one I own is the Montagnana [from 1740], also very beautiful. And then, I still own almost half of my old cello, the Guadagnini [1745], which I play for about two and a half weeks a year. and then I have two modern cellos which the makers very kindly gave me.

How do you choose one instrument over the other?

The repertoire.

You mean to say it depends on the timbre?

Ya. I mean, the Shostakovich concerto, for instance, I think is better on steel strings and I play on Montagnana for that. But most music, such as the Schumann, I prefer on Stradivarius [with gut strings]. I know I’m very, very lucky. A luxurious choice to have.

So it is the Stradivari you will be bringing to Bombay?

Ya [for Schumann’s Cello Concerto with the SOI on September 20 at the NCPA].

Such a rare cello. How do you protect it?

A: Think of travelling with a baby. Even more of a responsibility. I used to do that.

‘Proud of my heritage’

Will you tell us a little bit about your family?

Which family?

Your own family.

I don’t know. Going which way? My son? Parents? Sisters?

We know about your parents.

(So) You mean my son [Isserlis’s partner died of breast cancer in 2010]. My son is 33. He lives in the apartment above me...He is newly married to the leader of the Barbican String Quartet…He’s very busy because he has his own company…which finds spaces for creatives…actually several of the people who work for him work in India. I guess he might turn up in India at some point.

You are of Russian-Jewish descent...

Well, I certainly don’t have any links with Russia now. And I doubt if I’ll ever get back there. Things have changed a lot. And Jewish, well, I’m very conscious of being Jewish.

Conscious? Of being Jewish?

Ya. Proud of the heritage. It goes back many centuries…But I don’t know how it really affects my life. But, certainly...Harpo Marx, and a lot of my favourite musicians are Jewish.

Is identity…How do you primarily see yourself as?

Well, I don’t really think about it. English-Jewish...I’m not tortured about it.

Do you speak Russian?

A little bit. I studied it ages ago. But you know, very, very badly. I speak like a two-year-old Russian.

Ok, so for how many days will you be here, in India?

A: Ridiculous...for two days. I’ve never done such a ridiculously short trip before. But it was just the way it worked out in the end. I had to get back, and I couldn’t come until the day before the first rehearsal...I hope if I come back it will be for longer.

Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss the yearly horoscope 2025 and Chinese horoscope 2025 for Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig zodiac signs. Spread love this holiday season with these New Year wishes, messages. quotes.