I cannot forget hearing Beethoven's music in the hungry, cold Petrograd of 1919 – the audience in fur coats and felt boots, the musicians playing in the unheated hall of the Academy Choir. Beethoven's quartets, piano, violin and cello sonatas, and other chamber works were performed with incredible enthusiasm and inspiration. This series of concerts lasted half a year, and I think I would be right in saying that I never once saw a single empty seat in the hall.