According to Norman Lebrecht's ever-informative "Slipped Disc" blog at ArtsJournal, the Russian superstar pianist Evgeny Kissin will become an Israeli citizen on Saturday, December 7, 2013. He has received the personal backing of another prominent Russian (now leading Israeli politician), Natan Sharansky.
It is no great surprise as Kissin, who currently lives in the U.K. and is a British citizen, has been very vocal and articulate in his support for Israel over the past few years. But he joins the Jewish state at a time when, musically, they seem to be going through a second golden period--the first being that magical time when talents of the magnitude of Pinchas Zukerman, Daniel Barenboim, Mischa Maisky and Itzhak Perlman poured out of that little country (Barenboim, of course, having gone to Israel from Argentina).
Kissin will be joining an equally talented batch of Israeli classical artists, many of them very much of today's generation, restlessly innovative and looking for ways to reach new audiences. Among this latter group are the likes of pianist and conductor David Greilsammer (signed to Sony, just founded the Geneva Chamber Orchestra), fellow conductor Ilan Volkov (whose "Tectonics" events bring cutting-edge music to big audiences) and mandolin player Avi Avital (with that new album blending classical and world music). Plus pianist Inon Barnatan, mezzo Rinat Shaham, soprano Chen Reiss (actually there's a bit of a bumper batch of fine Israeli sopranos just now), conductors like Dan Ettinger, Omer Wellber and Lahav Shani...there are so many!
One thing is for sure, though. Even in the most exulted company, a Kissin will always stand out.
