Evgenyi Kissin was recently asked in an interview with Marina Arshinova "Have you ever thought of conducting?"

Kissin: No, absolutely not. It's not for me. The more I play the piano, the more I see how difficult it is. One may only dream life would long enough to perform everything at a decent level. To do something really well, one has to dedicate one's whole life to it. I am, as a natural perfectionist, absolutely sure of it this. So if I try to imagine conducting, I always think a conductor is dependent on the help of other people, while I am playing the piano without anybody's help. And I prefer that. But Yuri Temirkanov was born to conduct. Once he said as a joke that many musicians start conducting because they see how easy it is. He also told me how he studied with great teachers - Mussin and Rabinovich - at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. They made him compose fugues and orchestrations, and so on. We love each other very much. We love to spend time together. There is a certain chemistry between us. When we're rehearsing, performing on stage, we are working together. But to work with someone for whom you feel admiration is even better than just working. We have been playing together for more than 20 years. We met each other in Amsterdam in 1988. One month later we met in London where we had dinner together. I remember that evening, when Temirkanov told me about how much he loved Brahms. By the way, if we are talking of happiness, it was Temirkanov who told me "when I don't feel happy, I look out of the window into the street and see people. I think 'they don't know Brahms, but I do' ".