I recall with great pleasure a solo tour I once did, playing several concertos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Charles Groves in seven or eight towns in Poland. Music really seemed to mean so much to those people; it was, at any rate at that time (about 1968), one of the few bright spots in what seemed to be their drab lives. One can easily feel the emotions of an audience when great music - especially Mozart - is played. Here it was almost unbearable. The members of the orchestras in every district were always around at rehearsal time, anxious to chat; and in spite of their inevitable similarity in musical outlook and experience, they did seem to take their work seriously, and were most anxious to know how their music was regarded in the West. Happily we were able to convey to them our great admiration without at any time having to admire the administration they themselves so revered - or seemed to. << less