Dear kapustin fans

I don't wish to associate Kapustin's name with negative feelings, but
I would like to talk about something that happened to me regarding
Kapustin. I discovered him about this time two years ago, when I
bought Marc-Andre's excellent cd and listened to it non stop for
several months. I had heard the toccatina op 36 on the radio a few
weeks earlier and was enchanted; to me this was the future of piano
playing. Vibrant, technically accomplished, bristling with energy and
invention, a unique and distinct musical language.

Then, at the start of this year, I went to a music institution to
further my piano skills, as you do. Just a normal bachelor of music
degree, with the intention of having a great deal of inspiration and
musical exchange with like-minded peers. One of the first things I
played was the Toccatina. What happened next rather shocked and
disappointed me- although people reacted with interest, and some
enjoyed, most regarded it as a wasteful novelty that only a fool would
bother with. WHy play fusion rubbish when you have chopin and liszt
and bach to work on? I thought this was preposterous and so I
continued to play Kapustin, eventually performing the Toccatina in
pubic and enjoying it alot. But the flak from my colleagues only
increased- some regarding me with faint amusement ("oh, you actually
learnt one? Really? why?") and others expounding career advice to
the effect that you don't have time to waste on Kapustin, you should
spend this time on things like the chopin etudes and bach.

Now, I can see the argument- if you can play the etudes and the well
tempered klavier, you will have a technique good for pretty much
anything. Playing kapustin may not have the same universality.
However, the effect this has had on me is terrible- I now feel ashamed
to listen to Kapustin, like i'm wasting my time, and when I try to
learn more of his pieces, I don't get very far before I think I'd
better do something else.

Unfortunately the negative responses aren't confined to my classical
peers- I showed Hamelin's cd to one of the jazz pianists and they
responded without responding, total ambivalence, which I later learnt
is a sign from this teacher that they didn't like it. Another jazz
lecturer heard me practicing the toccatina and criticised kapustin for
"stealing" the idiom.

So unfortunately for me I've moved into a musical environment where it
appears no one likes Kapustin at all, and in fact, seem to view it as
dangerous for a student's development.

I know I shouldn't be so easily swayed by the opinions of others, but
then again, I'm a young pianist and I'm not going to get very far if I
arrogantly ignore the merits of a cultural tradition to pursue my own
interests. But those interests remain true- i love kapustin, no
matter how "tasteless" that makes me. I don't feel tasteless,
though...

So I'm dazed and confused...not quite sure what to do or think. I
figure this would be the place to ruminate on the subject. Perhaps
this reflects a general trend in the classical world to regard
Kapustin as a novelty? I know that Hamelin's musical opinions aren't
generally respected, so maybe he's even worsened the situation by
recording him. I don't know...

Thanks for your time.