Tom Gross's video: Evgeny Kissin on Israel Soviet anti-Zionism and western complicity with communist crimes

This clip is part of a wider discussion between Evgeny Kissin and writer Tom Gross. Described by The Economist magazine as “the world’s most acclaimed classical pianist,” Kissin discusses his life, his music, his love for Yiddish literature and his political views. Conducted, by zoom while under coronavirus lockdown, on May 24, 2020. You can watch their whole conversation here: https://youtu.be/6zKvyjlvleg Other extracts from this interview: * Evgeny Kissin on his favorite concert halls and musicians https://youtu.be/-jihOe6jkxo * Evgeny Kissin recites his Yiddish translation of Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ speech https://youtu.be/2mJLxvNokQw * Evgeny Kissin on Stalin’s murder of Yiddish writers, and Kissin’s own attempts to revive Yiddish https://youtu.be/tIh8QEEJiG0 Among other conversations in this series: * Pianist Evgeny Kissin (Prague) https://youtu.be/6zKvyjlvleg About being a child prodigy; his favorite concert halls, musicians and conductors; learning new repertoires and visiting Kafka’s grave during coronavirus lockdown; about Stalin’s murder of Yiddish writers, Kissin’s own love for Yiddish, his support for Israel, and his disdain for hypocritical Western leftists. * Writer David Pryce-Jones (Wales) https://youtu.be/hK8kppwX7UI About his childhood escape from the Nazis, and about his friendships with Isaac Bashevis Singer, Arthur Koestler, Stalin’s daughter Svetlana, John Gross and others; and about Israel, Italy, and the New York Times. * John O’Sullivan (Budapest) https://youtu.be/TKspJwfsibg On his work as one of Margaret Thatcher’s most trusted aides and advisors in 10 Downing Street; on the Trump presidency; the future of journalism; and his lifelong love for musical theatre. * Oscar-nominated filmmaker Hossein Amini (London) https://youtu.be/_llnKPTT0FE Born in Tehran to a distinguished Iranian family (his grandfather was prime minister under the shah) Oscar-nominated screenwriter and film director Hoss Amini speaks with his friend Tom Gross about Iran before and after the Islamic revolution, his career as a filmmaker, his work with Martin Scorsese and Harvey Weinstein, his favorite films, and says that ‘it’s no accident that the MeToo movement started in tolerant Hollywood’. * Bahra Saleh (Kirkuk, Iraq) https://youtu.be/tQM0a9qJ1Jk On being a woman, and a Kurd, in Iraq * Rt Hon Lord (David) Young of Graffham https://youtu.be/AzmrBuZ0OoM About his ten years in Downing Street working closely with Margaret Thatcher, his five years in Downing Street with David Cameron, and about Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, and modern multicultural Britain. * Writer Nidra Poller (Paris) https://youtu.be/wHky3gPi0oA * Susan Loewenthal Lourenco (Berlin) https://youtu.be/wjS4DSh4DBw