I was still a teenager when Krystian Zimmerman won his top spot during the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. His performance was simply brilliant. No other participants during that 1975 competition could compete with that young and very talented pianist.
That was then, and today is now.
Besides the gray hair and a ring on his finger, obvious signs of how times passes, Krystian Zimmerman still plays Chopin, Beethoven and others, with allegedly the same passion and virtuosity he displayed some 30 years ago.
There is one thing that has changed about Mr. Zimmerman; he has taken it upon himself to become a self proclaimed expert in today’s world political matters. This is where the otherwise respected Pole loses his luster and respect.
It is one thing to be a young, inexperienced, arrogant rock band artist with tattoo’s covering your arms and legs to prevent them from ever getting an office job, yet fighting for your political beliefs without fully understanding them; many times spewing incoherent and incorrect political ramblings. However, it is less excusable however, when a 53 year old classical pianist engages in the same sort of behaviour, minus the tattoo sleeves, of course.
During his latest Los Angeles performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in late April 2009, Krystian Zimmerman evidently forgot who his audience was and came out swingining with his untimely – “America, get you hand of may country!” – statement. The political portion of his concert reportedly covered monologues from U.S. policies on Eastern Europe to American immorality of Guantanamo prison.
America, being the free democratic country that we are, would never deny anyone, even a non-American, the right of free speech. However, there is always the small matter of how to behave as a guest. As an American, I feel this nonsensical and daft guest needs to make sure he does not miss his flight home and out of this Great Nation.
This ill-bred and boorish know-it-all could not wait to display his ignorance of the historical facts and claimed to represent his homeland, Poland. This is the same Poland that so many of our brave American men fought to free during World War II with unwavering moral support and tangible financial assistance fighting Communism, which finally collapsed in 1989.
Zimmerman evidently forgot his favorite composer’s despair and agony, as Frederic Chopin watched Warsaw uprising being crushed by occupying Russia in 1831. I wonder if Mr. Zimmerman still remembers why Chopin wrote his full of pain and rage “Revolutionary Étude”, in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12, as he played it to audiences all over the world.
As Zimmerman continued to share his political “wisdom” with his Los Angeles fans, he allegedly said :
”Some of American people start marching when they hear the word “army”. There are many other fantastic things in America besides your army”.
The truth, again, appears to have been missed by Zimmerman; if it wasn’t for those courageous American men Poles, with the rest of the Europeans, would be speaking German since World War I. Poland would, most likely, still be divided by Austria, Russia and Germany, and Mr. Zimmerman may never have been allowed to be born - thanks to a little Nazi midget of III Reich, Adolf Hitler. Again, the “ugly” American rushed to “interfere”, so intellectual buffoons like Zimmerman could freely practice what they want, and where they want.
The best thing for Krystian Zimmerman to do today is to take HIS hands off politics, get his head out of the sand and take a couple of history classes.
