Is this the next Valentina Lisitsa?
NewsBefore she became a propagandist for Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasions, the Ukrainian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa made her name as the most-viewed classical pianist in the early years of Youtube. She followed up this breakthrough with a self-financed Decca recording of the Rachmaninov concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra, a set of real distinction.
Then she got distracted by politics. Today, she is banned in many countries.
So now meet Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova. She has 36 million views on Youtube for her playing of Rachmaninov’s second concerto and is about to release it on the Dutch label, Channel Classics.
See what you think.
Her political statement:
‘Since the 24th of February, 2022, the world as I had known it was turned upside down. Unimaginable, inhumane terror is ongoing in Ukraine and is becoming more cruel and terrifying every day. It was hard to function during the first weeks of the war as the shock and despair were too strong, but the urge to do something, to help the suffering people in Ukraine in any way possible, was much stronger.
‘The war is making the world black and white, blinding people with hatred and pain. In times like this I think it’s very important to hold on to our humanity and not to judge people by their passports but by their actions, their values and what they are standing for. The same goes for Russian composers. They cannot be the ones to blame for the actions of the government of Russia. They should be looked at as
individual people and their personal stories have to be told. In fact, many of them were suffering and suppressed by the former Soviet regime and many were forced to emigrate and live the rest of their lives in exile. Nowadays I feel that playing Rachmaninoff is even more relevant than ever. He himself was a victim of the Russian government as he was forced to flee his homeland together with his family
during the Revolution in 1917 and he spent the rest of his life living in the US.
I believe that the music of Rachmaninoff has an enormous emotional power that gives hope, raises the spirit and gives us strength to go on. It is full of humanity and belongs to all of us in the world.”
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