Tom Gross talks with world-renowned pianist Evgeny Kissin about being a child prodigy; his favorite concert halls, musicians and conductors; learning new repertoires and visiting Kafka’s grave during coronavirus lockdown; about Stalin’s murder of Yiddish writers, Kissin’s own love for Yiddish, his support for Israel, and his disdain for hypocritical Western leftists
. Discussion by zoom while under coronavirus lockdown, on May 24, 2020.
Extracts from this interview here:
* Evgeny Kissin on his favorite concert halls and musicians
* Evgeny Kissin recites his Yiddish translation of Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ speech
* Evgeny Kissin on Israel, Soviet anti-Zionism and western complicity with communist crimes
* Evgeny Kissin on Stalin’s murder of Yiddish writers, and Kissin’s own attempts to revive Yiddish
Other conversations in this series:
* Tom Gross speaks about his own life experiences and views: growing up surrounded by cultural and literary luminaries in London and NY; brunches with Elvis Presley’s songwriter; crossing Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin with his grandmother during communism; helping the Roma when almost no one else would; his close relationship with his godmother Sonia Orwell (the model for the heroine Julia of her husband’s masterpiece ‘1984’); being in Manhattan on 9/11; the Mideast; the importance and legacy of the Holocaust; & other matters. https://youtu.be/T4Pg-IDYJYE
* Writer David Pryce-Jones (Wales) discusses his childhood escape from the Nazis, and about his friendships with Isaac Bashevis Singer, Arthur Koestler, Stalin’s daughter Svetlana, John Gross and others https://youtu.be/hK8kppwX7UI
* Oscar-nominated filmmaker Hossein Amini (London) Born in Tehran to a distinguished family (his grandfather was prime minister under the shah), Hossein speaks about Iran before and after the Islamic revolution, his career as a filmmaker, his work with Martin Scorsese and Harvey Weinstein, the MeToo movement and racism in Britain https://youtu.be/_llnKPTT0FE
* Historian Amanda Foreman (NY) talks about her father Carl Foreman (who wrote Bridge on the River Kwai, High Noon & Guns of Navarone); her books; her TV series on the ascent of women; curating an exhibition in Buckingham Palace https://youtu.be/lFHkJcf0qO0
* The last Nazi-hunter Efraim Zuroff (Jerusalem) speaks about his worldwide pursuit of war criminals, his efforts to make Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Croatia and other countries admit their own very substantial collaboration with the Nazi genocide; and the future of Holocaust education and memory. Why did the Vatican and Red Cross help Nazi criminals escape? Why were so many doctors Nazis? https://youtu.be/KEaUhSYX3hI
* Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland, asks whether Britain can learn from the US system of government, and discusses Donald Trump, early Zionism — and how as a teenager he was a mentor to Sasha Baron Cohen https://youtu.be/Y_3phYh8WMU
* In a separate shorter conversation Jonathan Freedland & Tom Gross discuss left-wing and English antisemitism https://youtu.be/D8Zcppjh6Tw
* John O’Sullivan (Budapest) Born to working class parents near Liverpool, John rose to become one of Margaret Thatcher’s most trusted advisors in 10 Downing Street. In this conversation, he discusses Thatcher’s personality and other leading figures he met, including President Reagan. He also discuss Trump’s presidency; the future of journalism; and his love for musical theatre. https://youtu.be/TKspJwfsibg
* Zoe Johnson is the second woman ever to be appointed Senior Treasury Counsel by the attorney general to prosecute the UK’s most serious cases including Islamic terrorism, organized crime, abuse of public office, and honor killings. And she has done all this with the added difficulty of being confined to a wheelchair for almost her whole life. https://youtu.be/Zs_pr7-6mxs
* Bahra Saleh (Kirkuk) 0n being a woman, and fleeing Saddam as a Kurd in Iraq https://youtu.be/tQM0a9qJ1Jk
* Orit Yasu (Shoham) talks about growing up Ethiopian-Israeli https://youtu.be/xKihFpFrOUg
* Lord (David) Young talks about his ten years in Margaret Thatcher’s government, his five years working with David Cameron, and about Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, and modern multicultural Britain https://youtu.be/AzmrBuZ0OoM
* Nidra Poller (Paris) discusses hanging out with James Baldwin and other African-American writers and musicians in 1970s Paris, the origins of her name, how her Japanese partner introduced her to Israel, and the position of women today https://youtu.be/wHky3gPi0oA
* Shmuel Bar (Herzliya), who worked for Israel’s government for 30 years in various clandestine capacities, discusses the state of America, Europe & the Mideast https://youtu.be/j_ekSPVLMAg