PERSPECTIVE — Pianist András Schiff began the velvet revolution in Bach pianism in the early 1980s, establishing an emotionally generous alternative to the analytical Glenn Gould, earning the admiration of Daniel Barneboim, and giving a place at the table for like-minded pianists such as Angela Hewitt. His repertoire has expanded toward Bartók, his choice of instruments now includes clavichord, and his concerts often have him conducting from the keyboard.
But the dramatic development is Schiff’s evolution as political activist. In 2012, he vowed to never again visit his native Hungary in protest of the Viktor Orbán government. He has not visited Putin’s Russia since the start of the war with Ukraine. Now he is canceling his U.S. concerts only two months into the Donald Trump presidency.
He joins other high-profile musicians — all aware that they don’t wield the influence of their pop music counterparts but feeling that some sort of action is necessary. First was soprano Renée Fleming, who resigned from the Kennedy Center board in solidarity with colleagues who were sent away by Trump’s assertion of power over the Washington, D.C., performing arts center. In February, German violinist Christian Tetzlaff spoke out with concrete reasons for canceling his American concert dates: Roughly one-third of his fees go to U.S. taxes, which indirectly support the current government. Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Möst spoke out against boycotting, arguing that America needs its fine-arts institutions more than ever.
Most outspoken — so far — is Schiff, 71, who is based in London and Salzburg but whose Hungarian-Jewish family history, which very much includes the Holocaust, has chilling modern parallels. What follows is an email interview with Schiff, who has been touring in the Far East.
David Patrick Stearns: You know America better than most Americans from touring and from being an intelligent outside observer. What has American lost so far in terms of overall culture, freedom of expression? What stands to be lost in the future?
András Schiff: Of course, Americans know their part of the country better. I have very limited experience in rural areas. What has been lost is a sense of decency. It’s a new system of values or rather of a lack of values. We no longer seem to know what is right or wrong. For example, being a liar used to be considered a vice, but if it’s the president or the “vice” president, then it’s okay. We have lost compassion, the ability to feel for others. It’s all about money, wealth, and power. As for the future, some of the damage is irreparable, but this is only the beginning; there is much more to come.
Stearns: Your repertoire is not political by any means, but under such repressive circumstances, do you ever feel that there’s an unsympathetic force looking over your shoulder waiting for you to violate an invisible rule, cross a line that you don’t know about? How is it to perform under such conditions?
Schiff: I don’t want to be the devil’s advocate, but not all of Trump’s ideas are bad. If only he wouldn’t be going around with the sledgehammer. Let’s take woke culture. In the past years, we have been seeing very dark forces influencing our cultural and educational institutions. In the name of diversity, equality, and identity, they have been trying to rewrite history, to change the existing canon of art.
In the field of music, it has been said that Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and a few others are nothing but silly old white dead men whose music is outdated and shouldn’t be played, listened to, or indeed taught. This is terrible and very dangerous. There is a very good reason why Bach and the others are at the top of the canon, because they really are the BEST. This has been agreed on for centuries by some very bright and knowledgeable people.
It’s not a closed society, and anyone is welcome to join the canon, but by merit alone. It’s not a question of ideology but of quality, quality alone. I am ready to fight for this till the end of my life.
Stearns: A number of other countries are involved in questionable activities. What level of human rights violations make you not want to go there?
Schiff: A difficult question. If we wanted to be consistent, there would be very few countries that would pass the test. We individuals are also not perfect, so let’s not be so severe with others. However, there are differences. Take Hungary. It’s my country of birth, and I happen to speak the language very well. So it matters to me more than it would for a non-Hungarian. Many of my colleagues go there and come back raving about it. They don’t understand the language, and they have no idea about what is actually happening there.
Ignorance is strength. Russia, a country where I love to perform because their audiences are simply the best. Yet it’s clear to me that after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, I can’t go there. Many musicians disagree. They continue to visit Russia because they believe in the separation of arts and politics. Excuse the comparison, but would you have visited Nazi Germany because you believed in Goethe and Beethoven?
Stearns: When the Ukraine was first invaded, Vladimir Jurowski, based in Berlin, emphasized that it was Putin’s war, not Russia’s. In contrast, so much of the U.S. is behind Trump. How did that influence your desire to cancel?
Schiff: Very much so. It hasn’t been a unanimous vote, far from it. But he won it fairly, quickly, and easily. That means that a lot of people agree with him, they love him. And they will support him unconditionally, whatever he does. It’s not just the uneducated — although there are plenty of those — but also very bright and intelligent people. For example, many Jewish people. They really believe that it’s good for the Jews, good for Israel. Well, that’s not true, and even if it were, is that the only criteria they know? Can’t they see the larger picture?
Stearns: How have your U.S. cancellations been greeted by your fellow musicians? By the industry at large?
Schiff: There have been many personal messages of support by colleagues and friends. The ugly voices came solely from anonymous bloggers.
Stearns: What can average U.S. citizens do as democracy crumbles and their jobs are lost at a moment’s notice?
Schiff: If I were a U.S. citizen living in the States, I would pack my bags and move to Canada. Or to Mexico, but only if I spoke Spanish.
