Do you remember the film “Diva” by Jean-Jacques Beineix? In that 1981 New Wave cult movie, a teenage opera fan clandestinely tapes a concert of capricious diva Cynthia Hawkins and hell breaks loose. It is hard to tell whether “Diva” became so successful in spite of or rather because of its totally absurd plot. It contained two Parisian killers, a corrupt cop, postmen on bikes, prostitues, a huge wave jigsaw puzzle, an ancient Citroen Traction Avant and, worst of all, two uncanny Taiwanese bootleggers in a shabby Porsche 924.
Maybe Kristian Zimerman had watched “Diva” once too often and drawn his own unfathomable conclusions for the digital age. Yesterday he interrupted his performance at Essener Philharmonie to tell off an audience member for filming him. He claimed that he had lost many record projects and “contacts” because of YouTube. When he suggested a project he was regularly told, “sorry, it’s already on YouTube” he sayed. Zimmerman cried, “the destruction of music through YouTube is enormous!” He subsequently resumed playing but couldn’t concentrate any more and walked off the stage, totally infuriated.The artistic director of Essener Philharmonie later backed Zimerman up saying “what’s happening there is theft”.
If you check out Krystian Zimerman on YouTube you may wonder what he is so worried about. All the videos I could find there looked either very official or didn’t contain any live footage at all. I failed to find a single Krystian Zimerman video that was obviously a bootleg secretly filmed with a handheld camera. Even if such a film should exist on Youtube somewhere, why should a lover of classical music refrain from buying any given Zimerman record because of what he or she has seen on YouTube? Or why should any record company people refuse him a record deal because of some shaky YouTube film? Do classical music aficionados prefer to watch dubious YouTube on their mobile phones over listening to decent recordings these days? Sorry, Mr Zimerman, you’re not making any sense.
Artists like Elvis Costello, Wire and Throbbing Gristle have repeatedly stated that they do not mind anyone in the audience making any kind of bootleg recording of their shows. Why should they? If bootlegs have any effect on record sales at all, then it certainly is not a negative one. Bootlegs are typically enjoyed (and bought) by people who already have all the official releases available anyway. YouTube videos may generally be enjoyed by all kinds of people, but let’s be honest: Krystian Zimerman is not the bloody Beatles! If there are dozens of official Zimerman concert videos on Youtube why would anyone bother with one that’s been filmed with a lousy cameraphone? If someone should indeed have time enough to scroll down far enough to find those secret Zimerman videos, then it is pretty safe to assume he or she has already watched everything else before. It is also pretty safe to assume that person will not be discouraged from spending any money on Zimerman’s artistic outpout by watching a Zimerman video on YouTube, official or bootleg. Only if the person hated what he or she saw there.
The more I think about it the more I come to realise that pondering Zimerman and his whims is not worth the effort. He is a diva, and that’s fine.
arnohorb 