Bravo, Maestro Zimerman!

One of the most celebrated pianists of our time recently carried out an unexpected and courageous act of political activism. Before performing the final piece of his recital at Disney Hall in Los Angeles on April 26, the Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman addressed the audience, saying that he could no longer play in a country whose military wants to control the whole world.

Zimerman also mentioned Guantánamo Bay and expressed outrage against U.S. military and political domination over Poland with the words: “Get your hands off of my country.” (Los Angeles Times, April 27) Zimerman was referring to the U.S. attempt to place anti-missile rockets in Poland, an unpopular move in Poland.

When a few people in the audience walked out, some shouting obscenities, Zimerman replied, “Yes, some people, when they hear the word military, start marching.” A majority of the audience cheered Zimerman, who then finished his program, playing Szymanowski’s “Variations on a Polish Folk Theme.”

According to the critic Mark Swed, the final piece was played with “astonishing ferocity that brought nothing but tumultuous cheers.”

This kind of activism is exceptional in the somewhat isolated world of classical music. Unlike a number of artists of popular-music genres who use the stage to express their progressive political views and are willing to suffer financial and other consequences, most of the classical performers and composers in the U.S. shy away from taking a stand on anything that could damage their individual careers.

Zimerman, however, is not alone. There is a tradition of Polish pianists and composers who brought politics to the concert stage. The line includes our contemporary, the Polish-American composer and pianist Frederic Rzewski (composer of such works as “36 Variations on ‘El pueblo unido jamás será vencido’—‘The people united, will never be defeated’”), as well as Ignacy Jan Paderewski, and Fryderyk Chopin, whose works, like his “Revolutionary Etude,” were 19th century pieces of protest over foreign empires’ domination of Poland.

Zimerman’s act is also significant as a reflection of popular sentiment in today’s Poland, and it speaks of the potential for resistance to the U.S. and NATO domination in this former socialist country.

Raickovich is a Belgrade, Yugoslavia-born, world-renowned composer.