Eric Edberg Hits a Big Nail on the Head

The thing that is so stupid about current classical music training, and one of the cancers that has eaten away of the vitality of classical music, is that we’ve made composers and performers into different species. -- Eric Edberg

Granted, when you're busy writing something, it is difficult to keep in performing shape. Bach, Liszt, Paganini, Chopin, Clara Schumann, Mozart, the younger Beethoven, Fritz Kreisler, Benjamin Britten, and a whole slew of others managed to do it, but others like Paul Hindemith, lost whatever chops he might have had once he put more time into writing than practicing.