Memoirs and Reflections

Evgeny Kissin

Weidenfeld & Nicolson £20

Seven years ago, I prepared to interview Evgeny Kissin. He had written a piece for the JC in which he accused the BBC of “slander and bias” against Israel, broadcasting material he described as “painfully reminiscent of the old Soviet anti-Zionist propaganda”, and it seemed clear to me that he had a lot to say beyond the piano keyboard.

I assumed that I might get half-an-hour of his time — an hour if I was lucky. Three-and-a-half hours later, I turned off my recorder after an astonishing display of — forgive me — virtuoso skills.

I’ve often wondered why it is that so many of the greatest pianists are also prodigiously gifted intellectually— the likes of Murray Perahia, Andras Schiff, Igor Levit and Krystian Zimerman. We can debate which is the chicken and which the egg but there is clearly a link between the ability to study, comprehend and perform works such as the Hammerklavier sonata and the ability to think rigorously and originally across other, non-musical areas.

Although the caricature of Kissin is of a wunderkind turned adult virtuoso, his pianism has always been about far more than technical proficiency, astounding as his is. And his musical interpretations are clearly built on deep, intellectual foundations.

It is that mixture that forms the basis of Memoirs and Reflections. Kissin describes it as an attempt to answer some of the questions that always crop up when he is being interviewed. And the title is right: it’s a blend of some of the highlights of his life, musical and otherwise, along with Kissin’s thoughts on a variety of topics from the nature of humanity to the meaning of liberty in Russia to his views of other musicians.

It’s a book that can be read in one, brief sitting but is more rewarding dipped into since there is no real thread to it.

But, although it gives an indication of Kissin’s hinterland, I found it too short — too bitty, too undeveloped. I found myself wanting him to elaborate almost every point made. Listening again to our interview from 2010, it’s that development of his thoughts and observations that is so compelling and so striking.

With Kissin, less is less.

Stephen Pollard is the editor of the JC