Pianist - Igor Levit's new album as a reaction to anti-Semitism
Berlin pianist Igor Levit released an album on Friday in response to the worldwide rise in anti-Semitism. "My heart is still broken. I'm not doing well, but I'm taking action and gaining a sense of purpose as a result," the 36-year-old told the German Press Agency.
He wants to donate all the proceeds from the album, which will initially only be released as a download, to two organizations that fight anti-Semitism: the Ofek advice centre for anti-Semitic violence and discrimination and the Kreuzberg initiative against anti-Semitism.
"The idea for the album came very spontaneously, it was based on the question: What can I do to bring meaning to this despair? How can I help the people who are doing more important things than me?" Two months have now passed since October 7 - the day Hamas carried out a massacre in Israel.
"Only two months", as Levit emphasizes. "I am no longer trapped in speechlessness. But the pain is just as great as it was on the first day." The relationships with his friends are important to him: "I only have trust in individual people - who see the suffering on all sides." He has lost faith in political movements and ideologies, he says. "I'm standing in front of a pile of broken glass." Music alone cannot heal. "Only people who show empathy and act accordingly can do that."
His album contains a total of 15 pieces, mainly Felix Mendelssohn's "Songs without Words" and a prelude by French Romantic composer Charles-Valentin Alkan. "The pieces have a certain melancholy, and I've been playing them a lot recently."
Read also:
- A clan member is punished here
- Traffic lawyer warns: Don't talk to the police!
- Will he be convicted as Jutta's murderer after 37 years?
- He also wanted to kill his cousin
- The German Press Agency reported that Igor Levit, a prominent pianist from Berlin, is donating the proceeds from his new album to two organizations combating antisemitism in Germany, specifically the Ofek advice centre and Kreuzberg initiative.
- Levit's new album, which primarily includes works by Felix Mendelssohn and Charles-Valentin Alkan, is a response to the rise in antisemitism both globally and following the October 7 massacre in Israel.
- Apart from musicians, Levit has expressed trust only in individual people who empathize with suffering, as he has lost faith in political movements and ideologies in the face of the ongoing challenges.
- In an interview with the German Press Agency, Igor Levit, a Jew of German and Israeli descent, spoke about the impact of antisemitism on him, emphasizing that the pain is still as intense two months after the horrific event.
Source: www.stern.de
