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The pianist on how his Twitter concerts became an internet sensation, his fears for the future of live music – and life in lockdown Berlin
The Russian-born, German-based superstar pianist Igor Levit, 33, is renowned for the fearlessness and intensity of his playing, and for his zest for the monumental – as his complete set of Beethoven Piano Sonatas (Sony Classical) demonstrates. When Europe went into lockdown against Covid-19 in mid-March, Levit embarked on a series of 52 consecutive evening recitals on Twitter from his Berlin home. They became a global internet sensation.
How did the concerts happen? What was the trigger?It was totally spontaneous. I’d played a concert in Hamburg on 10 March, my birthday. It was clear it would be the last such event for a time. The next night’s, in Cologne, was cancelled. We all thought, and the politicians assured us, this’ll take a couple of weeks then all will be OK. As the days passed I had a gut feeling things were very bad. Back in Berlin, I was a wreck. Walking home with my groceries, I thought: “Hey, wait a second…” Sharing what I do with an audience justifies my entire existence as a musician. Without it, literally, I fall sick. There and then, I stopped, put down my grocery bags in the street, and tweeted that I’d be performing a “house concert” at 7pm that night. Continue reading...