Starts with one hand alone, and you play a weird variation. Igor Levit: The “Vexations,” which is a very odd, very weird– kind of non-music piece. The “Vexations” is not exactly a reliable crowd-pleaser. So much better, he next streamed what was less a challenge to his musical talents, than to his musical stamina. Just this was enough for people to feel better. Just the fact that there was some kind of togetherness. ‘Cause just the fact that there was music, no matter how it sounded. And so, what usually must be right was wrong, and it didn’t matter. He had his classical repertoire but added soul and jazz and rock.įor 52 consecutive nights of live concerts, his followers joined from all over the world, unbothered by the tinny sound of his piano when it lapsed out of tune. No boundaries, just– just myself and the people. Igor Levit: It– yeah, it was just me, no hall, no questions about acoustics, no questions about an instrument, no questions about, you know, pre-printed programs, nothing. Jon Wertheim: that would seem to dramatically change the boundaries between a performer and the audience. Igor Levit: It’s completely transformed me, who I am, how I see the world, The first house concert drew a virtual crowd of 350,000. Next, he rushed out to buy a cheap camera stand, hastily rigged his iPhone, self-administered a tutorial in live-streaming and then, it was showtime. So how do I do it? I invite the people into my living room in the only way possible, which is through social media.įirst, he tweeted out an invitation to his followers. So, I had this idea to bring one of the most classic ways of music making, which is the house concert, to try to bring it into the 21st century. It’s just not the way I operate, I can’t, emotionally.

Igor Levit: I can’t just make music for myself. It could have been a disaster for Levit, a hipster, suddenly grounded at home in an edgy pocket of Berlin. Igor Levit: They lose everything from one day to the other. Jon Wertheim: -technicians and the lighting. Jon Wertheim: In many ways, the lockdown turned your world on its head. His tour dates cancelled, that intimacy evaporated. since my very childhood what I care about are people–Įven in a vast and venerable concert hall, this German musician has a way of creating an intimacy with his audience. Igor Levit: I couldn’t live without that. I get the feeling you need that connection with an audience. Jon Wertheim: We sometimes think of musicians as– they don’t mind the isolation. At odds with every piano teacher’s demand for perfect posture, it’s almost as if Levit is physically becoming part of the music he is conjuring. A typically glowing review described the performance as “fiery,” “magical,” and “elegant.” Take a look at how Levit curls over his instrument. Here he is inside London’s Royal Albert Hall, for the opening at The Proms in 2017, one of the oldest and most anticipated festivals on the concert calendar. Igor Levit is, to mix musical genres, a rock star. As Igor Levit plays in a new way to a new audience, he has reached a conclusion: music is not an extravagance, but a life necessity. But lately, as the pandemic mutes and muffles so much music, Levit’s performances have been mostly streaming over Twitter from his Berlin living room. In line for a Grammy later this month, Levit is 33 and already among the brightest stars in the classical music cosmos.

When the German pianist, Igor Levit was selected as the featured soloist of the Nobel Prize ceremony last month, it marked yet another grace note in a career that’s quickly grown filled with awards and honors.

The pianist tells Jon Wertheim about finding an audience during the pandemic, speaking out against antisemitism, and understanding Beethoven with the help of Eminem. Igor Levit: The classical music star streaming performances from his living room

Music prodigy 60 minutes