INTERVIEW: Evgeny Kissin on his first stage role in ‘Address Unknown’
Photo: From left, Evgeny Kissin and Thomas Hampson will perform in Address Unknown at The Town Hall. Photo courtesy of artists / Provided by Michelle Tabnick PR with permission.
Evgeny Kissin, one of the most beloved pianists in the world, will soon attempt a different outlet for his artistic expression: acting. Kissin and baritone Thomas Hampson will star in the new play Address Unknown, based on Kathrine Kressmann Taylor’s anti-fascist short story, which was originally banned in 1930s Germany, according to press notes. This New York premiere, written and directed by Kissin’s sister-in-law, Marianna Arzumanova, is set for a one-night-only performance at The Town Hall in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, April 17.
The play, which is presented by the Cherry Orchard Festival, depicts two friends living during the time of the Nazi regime in Germany, showing how their friendship is strained by the infiltration of the fascism knocking on the front door. Joining Kissin and Hampson on stage is Karina Arzumanova, who is married to Kissin in real life.
The musician, who was born in Moscow, started playing piano at the age of 2, according to his official biography. He came under the tutelage of Anna Pavlovna Kantor at a young age and made his concerto debut at the age of 10. Since those early beginnings, he has won top awards and played both original and repertory pieces around the world. This will be his first acting role.
“A few years ago the founder and director of the Verbier Festival, Martin Engstroem, conceived the idea of doing a public reading of Address Unknown at his festival,” Kissin stated in an email interview. “He suggested that I read Max Eisenstein’s letters and that my sister-in-law, Marianna Arzumanova, who is a professional actress and theatre director, make the staging of the reading.”
After reading the piece, Kissin though Hampson would be a solid acting partner who could read Shulse’s letters, while the pianist took on the role of Eisenstein. Hampson accepted the idea, but the project was necessarily delayed due to the pandemic. This hitting of the pause button allowed Arzumanova the chance to expand the piece into a full play.
“Then Russia invaded Ukraine, and that story became very relevant because the parallels with our time became truly striking,” Kissin stated. “Later, after Hamas committed the horrifying massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and many people in the free world began expressing solidarity with the murderers and slandering the victims, we all felt that Address Unknown became even more relevant. … What attracted me to the play was that it was a wonderful (although very sad) story, which became particularly relevant in our time. As for the role, as a Jew, I obviously feel close to Max Eisenstein, not to Martin Schulse who becomes a fervent Nazi.”
Kissin wrote that Taylor’s original short story, which was written in 1938, is actually based on real events and a real correspondence between these two friends — two friends who would become enemies after Hitler’s rise to power.
“The same thing has been happening during the last [few] years between a number of people who were born in Russia because some of them became fervent Putin’s supporters,” he wrote. “I can even tell you a story from my own life. In 2008, when I was spending a summer vacation in Yurmala, Latvia, I was approached in a bus by a man who recognized me, presented himself as a journalist and asked me for an interview. I told him in which hotel I was staying, and the following day I received a book of his interviews with many famous people, including Boris Yeltsin.”
Kissin gave this man a long interview, and they started corresponding by email. But eventually the pianist realized that the journalist was an admirer of Putin, and now he sees parallels with this experience and the letters he plans to bring to life at The Town Hall in Address Unknown.
“When Martin explains to his ex-friend Max why he admires Hitler so much, he writes: ‘A liberal is a man who does not believe in doing anything. He is a talker about the rights of man, but just a talker,'” Kissin stated. “In his first letter to me in which he explained why [he] admired Putin so much, my now late acquaintance from Yurmala wrote the following: ‘Liberals like to read books and talk about human rights, but are incapable of running not only a country, but even a public lavatory.'”
The pianist stated that he believes Taylor’s story holds weight in 2024, noting that there are “still enemies of liberalism” and “forces of evil” in the world, referencing Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the support that Putin still has in Russia, plus the attacks by Hamas against Israelis on Oct. 7 and continued support for Hamas.
After the performance of Address Unknown, the pianist stays busy as an in-demand classical music performer. “On April 21, I am doing a duo concert with Matthias Goerne in Toronto,” he wrote. “We’re performing a program of works by Schumann and Brahms. On April 25, we are doing the same program in New York at Carnegie Hall. After that, in May, I’ll have a recital tour around the United States. I’ll be giving concerts in San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Chicago; and New York.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Address Unknown, starring Evgeny Kissin and Thomas Hampson, will play The Town Hall in New York City on Wednesday, April 17. Click here for more information and tickets. Email responses were slightly edited for style.
