{"id":97,"date":"2009-04-27T21:44:47","date_gmt":"2009-04-27T21:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp\/2009\/04\/pianist_rejects_american_milit\/"},"modified":"2009-04-27T21:44:47","modified_gmt":"2009-04-27T21:44:47","slug":"pianist_rejects_american_milit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2009\/04\/pianist_rejects_american_milit.html","title":{"rendered":"Pianist Rejects American Military From the Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Krystian Zimerman is one of the world’s best pianists. Sunday night he was making his debut at LA’s Disney Hall. And then<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Before playing the final work on his recital, Karol Szymanowski’s
\n“Variations on a Polish Folk Theme,” Zimerman sat silently at the piano
\nfor a moment, almost began to play, but then turned to the audience. In
\na quiet but angry voice that did not project well, he indicated that he
\ncould no longer play in a country whose military wants to control the
\nwhole world. <\/p>\n

“Get your hands off of my country,” he said.  He also made reference
\nto the U.S. military detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some in the audience booed. A few walked out. <\/p>\n

Zimerman has had problems in the United States in recent years.  He
\ntravels with his own Steinway piano, which he has altered himself.  But
\nshortly after 9\/11, the instrument was confiscated at JFK Airport when
\nhe landed in New York to give a recital at Carnegie Hall.  Thinking the
\nglue smelled funny, the TSA decided to take no chances and destroyed
\nthe instrument.  Since then he has shipped his pianos in parts, which
\nhe reassembles by hand after he lands.  He also drives the truck
\nhimself when he carries his instrument from city to city over land, as
\nhe did after playing a recital in Berkeley on Friday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Krystian Zimerman is one of the world’s best pianists. Sunday night he was making his debut at LA’s Disney Hall. And then: Before playing the final work on his recital, Karol Szymanowski’s “Variations on a Polish Folk Theme,” Zimerman sat silently at the piano for a moment, almost began to play, but then turned to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ePZm-1z","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2675,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2023\/11\/american-orchestras-could-learn-something-from-south-dakota.html","url_meta":{"origin":97,"position":0},"title":"American Orchestras Could Learn Something from South Dakota","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"November 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Infinite choice of music in a few clicks sounds like a dream. 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