Albert Hirsh shared many of his insights about music and performing during media interviews and teaching workshops. Here are some examples, as well as quotes from a few reviews:

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o  “My ambition is to conduct some large orchestra, for I can imagine nothing more wonderful than having a symphony orchestra under one’s command.”  (1934)

o  “With today’s modern electronic equipment and the splicing of engineers, all we have today are ‘perfect performances.’ I’ve recorded, myself, and in one series with Schneiderhan, we did works as many as 15 times over.
o  “When we listened back to the finished product, some of our playing would include splices from all 15 attempts. It makes for perfection, to be sure, but it’s all hokum, achieved with the aid of the recording engineer.”  (1970)

o  “The critic familiarizes himself with a given work by listening to it in advance of the performance he is to cover. He hears it in all its perfection and in a single interpretation. Naturally, when he hears a deviation from what has grown familiar to him, he flaws the performance.
o  “This, however, is not true criticism in the sense that I knew it as a boy in Chicago when, for example, Felix Borowski wrote for the Tribune. He was both performer and composer but he wrote with a feeling for the human element in producing music.”  (1970)

o  “There is another aspect to criticism. For example, it is not fair to rate a small-town orchestra by the standards of the New York Philharmonic nor a local opera troupe by the standards of the Metropolitan Opera.
o  “By setting his sights too high, the critic sometimes can hurt a young musician just starting out and seeking to establish a reputation.”  (1970)

o  “The Debussy, Ravel accompaniments are intricate, very difficult rhythmically, tonally, interpretively and every way! These cannot be done by somebody who isn’t a crackerjack pianist with the ability to overcome any technical difficulties.”  (1979)

o  “I had no idea how much she [Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé] was going to open up in performance, loud or soft. I very quickly got an idea of what the tempi were, and I had to gauge the rest or just trust to instinct and my own musical judgement. Turned out to be a wonderful concert.”  (1979)

o  “I toured with cellist Emanuel Feuermann, later Nathan Milstein and others. They were extraordinary artists. It was exciting to work with them and I could make more money. But I also enjoyed not being a loner. It’s a lonely life to be a soloist.”  (1984)

o  “People say, ‘Well, I’m not good at a solo career. So, I’ll be an accompanist,’ but they don’t have the technique.
o  “As a student I turned pages at recitals in Town Hall and other places. I used to wonder how, with those terrible fingers, pianists got through these difficult pieces. There’s no limit to the technical demands placed on a performer as accompanist.
o  “You need an agile technique, the ability to learn quickly, a wonderful memory, but you have to be so quick that you don’t follow, you almost anticipate. It takes a special talent. You have to have an extremely keen ear so that you detect every nuance of tempo, character, and so forth. You have to realize that you play the same thing with many different people, which can mean that you might play it completely differently from one time to the next. You learn to adjust.
o  “You can put a few discreet notes on your music, but you have to remember inside just about everything concerning the performance. It means playing with a sense of security and having a sense of filling their needs.
o  “People wonder: Aren’t you subservient to the soloist? I say, yes and no. Giving the players good support is one thing I’m interested in. Then, they’re able to play at their best. Whatever we play has to come out the best they can do. They feel at ease and they let loose.”  (1984)

o  “[The Beethoven sonatas for violin and piano] are unique, first of all, in that he has a lot of scales and broken figures — simple things perhaps. But they have to be played with rhythmic precision, clarity and style. They’ve got to be clean but beautiful at the same time. It takes a wonderful technique to do it.
o  “I find everything Beethoven has written is difficult because of the speed.”  (1984)

o “Today, I just enjoy the feeling that I can still perform at a professional level and have an audience enjoy hearing it.” (1997)

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o  “Stupendous technical facility — and a sane approach free from affectation and mannerisms.”  (Toronto Globe and Mail, undated)

o  “The enthusiasm of a friendly audience was justified by a recital of musical interest and strong individuality.” (The New York Times, 1935)

o  “. . . in Liszt’s Paganini Variations he joyfully let himself go into fireworks.”  (The Toronto Star, 1937)

o “Albert Hirsh has tremendous technique under control equally tremendous.”  (Toronto Evening Telegram, 1937)

o  “Albert Hirsh plays moderns dazzlingly.”  (Toronto Daily Star, 1938)

o  “Francescatti and his accompanist, Albert Hirsh, scored a joint triumph.”  (Toronto Globe, 1944)

o  “Francescatti himself, at all times, accorded his fellow artist his deserved share of the evening’s acclaim. So must we.”  (Iowa City, 1944)

o  “Albert Hirsh, gifted American pianist, accompanied Francescatti. The two paired particularly well as a melodic team, and were equally applauded by the audience. Hirsh has the talent, rare among pianists, of contributing to the effect of a violin selection, not simply furnishing a tone backdrop for it.”  (Bryan News, College Station, Texas, 1944)

o  “Mr. Hirsh’s ready fingers and instincts wrought magic.”  (The Houston Post, 1951)

o  “Seldom is it an artist’s good fortune to have such sympathetic and inspiring assistance.”  (The Denver Post, 1955)

o  “… Francescatti joined with a fully appropriate fellow artist, Houston’s Albert Hirsh (who used to be his regular touring companion) to make the kind of music musicians love.  Messrs. Francescatti and Hirsh presently forgot there was anyone else in the hall — and then you heard things worth any amount of discussion.” (The Houston Post, 1956)

o  “Mr. Ferras was especially fortunate in his pianist, Albert Hirsh…. He can turn on expressively to the degree needed for the sonata. He truly helps without reaching for a thing.”  (Dallas Morning News, 1960)

o  “… a pianistic associate of rare quality whose artistry was a pure joy in itself. This was Houston’s Albert Hirsh, whose infallibly sensitive and penetrating renditions were at all times an inspiration….”  (The Houston Post, 1961)

o  “Albert Hirsh, the fastest sight reader in the West!”  (Dallas Times Herald, 1963)

o  “Fortunately, [Ricci] had in Albert Hirsh an accompanist who was an inseparable element in the total achievement.”  (Dallas Morning News, 1963)

o  “He did his usual highly professional job, leading one to believe the remark in the program that he is ‘one of the country’s leading accompanists.’  Hirsh knows when to lead the soloist on and when to follow.”  (The Houston Post, 1973)

o  “An old saying goes that you know someone by the company he keeps. Itzhak Perlman was also impeccable in this regard. Joining him was that super chamber-music pianist, Albert Hirsh, whose presence turned a banquet into a feast.”  (Dallas Morning News, 1976)

o  “Clean, perfectly coordinated ensemble playing is a standard expectation at Hirsh’s performances. His playing was all that and much more.”  (The Houston Post, 1980)

o  “… Hirsh maintained impressive control over a piano part that seemed to have bucketfuls of notes in every chord and a Lisztian etude to hurdle every two or three pages throughout the work.”  (The Houston Post, 1980)

o  “… breathtaking virtuosity never overwhelmed the program’s four works, serving instead to underscore and define the composers’ ideas.”  (The Washington Post, 1984)

o  “To the rescue came University of Houston faculty pianist Albert Hirsh, providing very reliable, often musically impressive performances of difficult piano parts on one day’s notice. The veteran chamber-music pianist has been summoned for that task many times in his long career and Tuesday’s concert was a fine example of the keen musical disciplines that enable him to meet such a challenge.”  (The Houston Post, 1984)