'I want more': Igor Levit writes about his life How an unhappy teenager became a star pianist and political activist: Igor Levit gives readers a personal glimpse of his life and what drives him. Igor Levit started to play the piano at age 3 "Igor Levit may well be one of the best pianists of the century. In any case, he is the most noticeable," writes Florian Zinnecker, in the preface to Hauskonzert, the new biographical book he co-wrote with Levit . The celebrated 34-year-old concert pianist is in fact omnipresent in the German media, not only as a musician but also as a vocal critic of the far right and social problems.