Elisey Mysin

In sharing my favorite videos of musical, mostly piano, performances in recent months, I've made several references to child prodigies, and suggested that virtually all of the greats become great in large part because they are recognized as exceptional early on and are properly nurtured. Mentoring is an essential for talent, I believe, if we want it to shine.

I’m a sucker for young kids who shine from an early age, and I’ve followed some of them for years now. Alexander Malofeev, for one example. The Jussen Brothers, for another.

I fall in love with these kids, and focus as much on their person as on their talent. I love Alexander Malofeev’s beautiful blond hair, the innocent smiles of all the child prodigies, the evidence of precocious personalities, whatever makes them distinctive as representatives of the best the human race comes up with, all in addition to what should probably be the proper focal point, their exceptional talent as performers.

In doing this, I think there’s an important line we sometimes cross which deserves more of our attention. When, in showering attention on children, however deserved, are we confusing an appreciation for the artistic, the esthetic, with a base instinct for titillation and an unworthy inclination to use others for our own entertainment. When looking at a child of three or four or five playing Mozart - Elisey Mysin is a good example - is it a love of Mozart that captures our attention, of the rare - not to say freakish - fact that we’re witnessing evidence that superhuman talent did not stop with Mozart?

I put the question out there for debate. Is our human love of excellence - something the Russians excel at, by the way - worth risking the potential destruction of a child’s healthy psychological growth? Is this a modern-day analogue to castrating exceptionally talented boy sopranos so that we don’t lose what is arguably a national treasure? 

The better question is probably, “Can we nurture a child prodigy properly without destroying the child in the process?” If so, then the answer is moot, I should think. Or rather, the response should be full steam ahead.

Let me take a closer look at Elisey Mysin, since he’s already out there and not a merely hypothetical case. From all appearances, he seems to be thriving. There’s no evidence, at least not at present, that he’s headed for a psychiatrist’s couch or a mental institution, or wherever they put people with nervous breakdowns these days.

Here’s a good place to start with the boy Elisey. The interview is in Russian, but I think his intelligence, precocity and sophistication come through gloriously. This is no five-year-old playing with dump trucks; this is an exceptional human being.  He’s already ten by the time this video is made, but my reference to him as a three-year or a five-year-old is not out of line, as evidenced by these couple of videos, here and here at age 6.

I won’t go on linking to other videos; they’re easy to find on YouTube. I just wanted to make a couple of points. One is that this is a child playing. His fingers are not long enough to hit all the keys. And despite his obvious ability to be physically moved by the music he is creating, he is not old enough to show the technical nuanced style we expect of a mature musician. It’s the fact that we’re looking at what appears to be a modern-day Mozart, somebody with extraordinary potential. Not an actual concert pianist. Not yet.

I don’t want to downplay the wonder of what we’re looking at. I just want to stress the importance of remembering this is a child who deserves to have a childhood and to be protected in his vulnerability.

God bless the Russians and their love of excellence. And their ability to foster it. And God bless the precocious children in our midst, whether they are musicians, Olympic athletes or architects in the making, poets, dancers or empaths.

And let’s keep our priorities straight. I’m with Kant. Human beings should be the ends of our moral consciousness, never the means to those ends.

Human compassion first, entertainment only when no one gets hurt.

But I’ve gotten too serious. Let me end with this video, where Eliseiyushka performs Rachmaninoff’s Italian Polka, first alone, then as a duet with Denis Matsuev, arguably Russia’s best-known concert pianist currently. Note the discussion of Elisey’s daily life, and the concern expressed that he be allowed to be a little boy. But then compare that with the comment that in Germany, such a performance as this would not be allowed because of the child labor laws.

Hard to get this thing just right!

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