Igor Levit — pianist with roots in the USSR
Igor Levit is a Russian-German classical pianist born in Nizhny Novgorod who emigrated to Germany at age eight and became one of the most acclaimed pianists of his generation. Known for marathon recitals of Beethoven, Bach, and Shostakovich, he is also one of classical music's most outspoken public intellectuals.
Tracing the roots — Nizhny Novgorod
Born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1987, Levit came to Germany as part of the wave of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He trained at the Hannover University of Music and has spoken movingly about his Russian Jewish identity, Germany's responsibility to its Jewish community, and the role of art in political life.
Nizhny Novgorod. At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.
A career defined by ambition
"Music is not an escape from the world. It is the deepest engagement with it."