When I started learning the cello, I fell in love with the instrument because it seemed like a voice - my voice.

I know that after my letter there will be undoubtedly an 'opinion' about me, but I am not afraid of it. I openly say what I think. Talent, of which we are proud, must not be submitted to the assaults of the past.

I came to Moscow when I was 5 years old from Baku. To walk all night in Moscow will bring back my youth to me.

Now I want to use money in a good way. I make foundations back home in Russia, I have sponsored vaccinations for more than one million children in my homeland and I have founded scholarships in the names of my great Russian compatriots - Oistrakh, Richter, Gilels, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Schnittke.

Would not the child's heart break in despair when the first cold storm of the world sweeps over it, if the warm sunlight of love from the eyes of mother and father did not shine upon him like the soft reflection of divine light and love?

People are expecting me to still be fourteen years old. It cracks me up, especially when people see me walk by with my husband. They're like, 'What? You're married? You're not old enough to be married.' Thank you. I'm glad that you think that.

To me, nothing is more fun than being in that ring. That ring is just my heart; it's my passion.

I want everyone to know what they deserve in relationships: that they can demand equality and kindness. Because everyone will have a relationship at some point in their life. It's what we all do, every day, and we need to know how to do it.