Polish Pianist Protests United States Policies

[micrologus]

The Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman surprised his audience during a recital on Sunday at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles when he announced that he would no longer perform in the United States in protest of the country’s military policies, the Web site of The Los Angeles Times, latimes.com, reported. Mr. Zimerman was about to play Karol Szymanowski’s “Variations on a Polish Folk Theme,” his final piece of the evening, when he told concertgoers that he would not continue to perform in a country whose military, he said, wants to take over the world. “Get your hands off my country,” Mr. Zimerman said, according to the report. In 2006 Mr. Zimerman halted a performance at Carnegie Hall when he believed he observed a concertgoer recording the recital. Amid heightened security after the 9/11 attacks, a Steinway grand piano that he traveled with was destroyed by the Transportation Security Administration, apparently because the piano’s glue resembled a compound used in explosives.

NYT




"Review: Krystian Zimerman's controversial appearance at Disney Hall"

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/cult...sney-hall.html

[Philidor]

Amid heightened security after the 9/11 attacks, a Steinway grand piano that he traveled with was destroyed by the Transportation Security Administration, apparently because the piano’s glue resembled a compound used in explosives.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha That MUST be an April Fool.

[haydnguy]

I have a question as someone else has about the timing of this. Why now and not when Bush was in office. Doesn't make sense.

[Philidor]

Originally Posted by SchubertGuy

I have a question as someone else has about the timing of this. Why now and not when Bush was in office. Doesn't make sense.

I agree. Is Star Wars in Poland going ahead? Is that his gripe? Or Poland's entry into NATO? I used to hear Polish workers in the UK complaining about it. But they ALWAYS ended up saying how they hated the Russians more than the Americans...

[micrologus]

Originally Posted by SchubertGuy

I have a question as someone else has about the timing of this. Why now and not when Bush was in office. Doesn't make sense.

The article was published yesterday

[haydnguy]

Whatever the reason, we'll miss him.

[micrologus]

Maybe this pianist could replace him.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ860P4iTaM"]YouTube - "NORA: Practice Makes Purr-fect" - Check the sequel too.[/ame]

There is a Flemish proverb saying 'He sent his cat', meaning 'He didn't show up'

[haydnguy]

[Philidor]

The CIA allegedly used secret prisons in Poland to torture people. Maybe he's upset about that.

Though Poland gets comparatively little attention in the U.S., American policy recently has been a hot-button issue in Poland. Poles were upset about allegations that the CIA held suspected Al Qaeda militants in secret prisons in Poland. A Polish newspaper mockingly referred to the country as "the 51st state." Also controversial was a Bush administration proposal to put missile defense facilities there.

Sumi Hahn, a Seattle journalist who interviewed Zimerman earlier this month, said she was not surprised to hear of his outburst. She said he told her that he had "very mixed feelings now about America."

In the past five years," she quoted him as saying, "something happened here that changed the world: a war based on lies. . . . So much damage was done worldwide ... and Americans are so unaware."

Source

[haydnguy]

I thought I read recently where they were shutting all those down. Originally, Bush denied there were any at all but Obama supposedly ordered them shut. I'll see if I can find something on it.