Evgeny Kissin Chopin: Sonata No. 3, Mazurkas

This CD is possibly my favorite of all which I own. Kissin's technical prowess rivals that of pianists twice his age, yet it is neither age nor technique that sets him apart from his peers, but his unmatched sensitivity and insight. This is musicianship of the very highest caliber. Kissin has a special affinity for Chopin. His very natural touch and "declamation" sound like what one must imagine Chopin, himself, must have played.

Kissin's generous lyricism and lovely rubato in Rachmaninov's Lilacs make a distinguished prelude to this recital; but they are only a hint of the revelations to come. The big E flat minor Etude tableau drenches the listener in an extraordinary welter of sound, at once free and controlled, sensitive to harmonic nuance and yet to broader undercurrents as well. And it is followed by a phenomenally articulate C minor, swirling and crackling like a force of nature (with just a couple of accidents on the last page as a brief reminder of human frailty)

Russia is vast, and so is this 25-disc tribute to the great piano school of Russia-from the long-famous icons to the more recent inheritors of this ineffably proud tradition. Vladimir Horowitz, Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lazar Berman and many others display their subtly various approaches to phrasing and timbre as they perform the great works of the Russian canon and composers across Europe. Monumental works like the first piano concertos of both Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev sit alongside intimate salon pieces like Tchaikovsky's The Seasons and rarely heard works such as the preludes of Kabalevsky. Many of these rapturously beautiful performances are rare and have never been available on CD!

The Japanese company, BMG Japan, sorted the original RCA RED SEAL CDs according to the composers and the year when the music pieces were created. BEST100 series are the best representative CDs, which were carefully chosen from those music pieces by acting and recording, and they were released again with the mark of RCA BEST100. These CDs are the most impressive records in the classical field at RCA’s best. Theoretically, we could find the single originals of those CDs, but BMG Japan reorganised excellently for everyone. During BMG Japan period, it was released for the first time in 1999 and for the second time in 2008 after SONY took over BMG. BEST100 series belong to the latter.