Rachmaninov Prelude in G minor - Evgeny Kissin
Grammy-winning pianist to receive Israeli citizenship
Acclaimed Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin will be
granted Israeli citizenship in a special ceremony on Saturday evening in
Jerusalem.
Internal Affairs Minister Gideon Sa’ar,
Minister of Immigration and Absorption Sofa Landver, and Jewish Agency Chairman
Natan Sharansky are set to hand the world-famous musician and proud Israel
advocate his Israeli identification card at the event.
Though Kissin, 42, has no plans to reside
permanently in Israel, the Moscow native was granted approval by senior
government officials for his citizenship request, which he filed for last year.
“There are other Jewish musicians who reach
Kissin’s level of musical talent, but it isn’t every day that so acclaimed a
musician joins the fight for Israel so openly and so uncompromisingly,”
Sharansky was quoted as saying in a Jewish Agency press release.
In a statement, Kissin said he wanted to
identify as Israeli, and take on Israel’s “problems, tragedies and very
destiny,” according to Tom Gross, a friend of Kissin who published the
statement on his website.
“When Israel’s enemies try to disrupt concerts
of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra or the Jerusalem Quartet {see here
for one example}, I want them to come and make troubles at my concerts, too:
because Israel’s case is my case, Israel’s enemies are my enemies, and I do not
want to be spared of the troubles which Israeli musicians encounter when they
represent the Jewish State beyond its borders,” Kissin said.
Kissin has won numerous awards in his decades
of playing music, including a Grammy in 2006 for a recording of works
by Scriabin, Medtner and Stravinsky.
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