"Get your hands off of my country"...
...says Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman, causing great commotion in Disney Hall.
Art and politics are uneasy, if constant, bedfellows. I for one don't begrudge the opportunity (quite literally, a stage!) to air one's views (as do others); I only wonder why Zimerman chose this point in time and not, say, sometime in the past 8 years.
Putting aside whether you agree or not with his politics, what do you make of the fact that the statement was made in a concert venue (keeping in mind that he said his piece right before launching into the final work of the program, fellow countryman Karol Szymanowski’s “Variations on a Polish Folk Theme")?
Art and politics are uneasy, if constant, bedfellows. I for one don't begrudge the opportunity (quite literally, a stage!) to air one's views (as do others); I only wonder why Zimerman chose this point in time and not, say, sometime in the past 8 years.
Putting aside whether you agree or not with his politics, what do you make of the fact that the statement was made in a concert venue (keeping in mind that he said his piece right before launching into the final work of the program, fellow countryman Karol Szymanowski’s “Variations on a Polish Folk Theme")?
Labels: music and politics, polling blog readers
posted by Sarah at
10:40 AM
7 Comments:
There are three big problems with Mr. Zimerman:
Firstly, he made no sense. Was he protesting missiles, or the ex (and thus irrelevant) Bush, or NATO, or the EU - whose hands are on where? He wasn't clear or cogent. Attendees at classical concerts tend to be highly educated and well-informed, and he merely demonstrated that he knew less about the topic than the audience. That begs more for adjustment to his medications rather than the political views of the concert-goers.
Secondly, and more importantly, he talked down to the audience. Not only bad form, but quite stupid – if he's so insistent on this message there are more persuasive styles of speaking, assuming even there were any people there who needed persuading. Not terribly bright, then. Strike two.
The third and most brutal fact is that concerts are expensive and I expect to get my money's worth. I dont have to be treated rudely, especially and in particular by deranged ranting from the performer I'm paying to perform. I can take my commerce elsewhere. I actually marvel that someone didn't have the courage to stand up during his comments and yell back "SHUT UP AND PLAY". That's what he was hired to do, after all, and would've been much more courageous and pertinent to the moment than his remarks. If he truly values free speech, he should've appreciated that and gotten to work.
When performers venture into the realm of politics they risk offending large portions of their audience no matter what side of the political spectrum they lean towards. One should not assume anything about one's audience and carefully count the cost (eg.attendance, support) if inclined to make such statements.
A musician using his performing platform to make an obtuse comment that has no context for anyone but him? The hell you say. Glad that doesn't happen often.
There is little that is more annoying than a drive-by comment that is designed to bring attention to someone or something in the way this musician did. People that do that stir pots just for the sake of stirring pots and rarely is anything accomplished of any lasting value. But hey... we're talking about him, right? Mission accomplished.
so, princetrumpet, do you think this was more publicity stunt than coherent political protest?
when i read the la times article on this incident, i was interested to note that those who seemed unbothered (or supportive) of the action were those aligned with the (ostensible) political statement (yes, deep blue, his actual comments seemed a little vague, but i believe he was protesting the installation of a US missile defense shield on Polish soil), while those who condemned the outburst disagreed with his stance.
Context is still everything. Timing is still everything. Just suppose that the concert's program notes had gone way over the top and explained that the pianist was very disappointed with Bush administration initiatives in eastern Europe, explained that he was ticked off about Gitmo, explained that he reassembles a custom-altered Steinway before each performance because the TSA demolished an earlier version, and explained that many professional musicians in Poland are politically outspoken. Would this have made his commentary from the piano bench more understandable, acceptable, neither, or both?
Alas, for the most part, the audience was broadsided by the remarks, and several started swinging with their own political viewpoints.
Who benefited most from the whole ordeal? Probably the audience members who waited until after 30 to 40 guests stomped out of the hall, until after others hurled their own noisy political epithets back at the pianist, until after still others were finished booing, and stayed for a passionately-played concert finale, having decided to wait until later to learn what Mr. Zimerman was talking about.
So was on stage, in concert the right place for the performer to make his political statements? Probably not. Even a hastily called press conference following the performance would have been better. But we are human first. Needless to say, politics at any level (and in any location) is not a neat package. And guess what? Neither are the arts, including (gasp) professional musicians in concert. A small tear in the package? Maybe. But art will survive, shake itself off, and move forward, as always. -- Jerry
Sarah, to call it a publicity stunt would be to elevate the act, frankly. I find it a moment of self-indulgent narcissism. Last I checked, an act such as installing a missile defense system takes so many layers of willing bureaucracy that it makes the pianist's rave even that much more unreasonable and ludicrous.
I think the USA is driving him crazy, and there's a lot for artists from other countries trying to work here to complain about. Talk to him about his confiscated piano, for example. He snapped. We had it coming.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home