Evgeny Kissin

For Evgeny Kissin, recording Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto must be déjà vu all over again, to quote noted American philosopher Yogi Berra, because every time the Russian pianist switches labels, he records the piece again. In 1985, he recorded it for RCA with Andrei Chistyakov and the Moscow Philharmonic, and in 1994, he recorded it for Deutsche Grammophon with Claudio Abbado and the Berliner Philharmoniker. In 2008 he recorded it for EMI with Vladimir Ashkenazy leading the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Kissin still looks very much the boy in the cover photo of this 1994 recital, one of the earliest follow-ups to his rapturously received Chopin recitals, also on RCA. He is jsut as phenomenal here. His commanding technique is reined in for the two Haydn sonatas, yet he presses just enough on the classical line to make it sound more vibrant and enticing. Richter made a great specialty of the Schubert A minor Sonata D. 784, yet Kissin steps up with his own less haunted, more heroic interpretation–it works extremely well. Both pianists rescue Schubert from his cliched role as a lyrical innocent, revealing his underlying Beethovenian aspirations.

Recorded between 1987 and 2003, the selections on Kissin Plays Liszt are representative of the Russian pianist's extraordinary virtuosity and the Hungarian composer's wide range of styles and expressions. These live recordings from New York and Tokyo have been compiled in a double-disc package to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Franz Liszt's birth, and Evgeny Kissin's extraordinary grasp of the repertoire guarantees that the music is as exciting and moving as possible.

This CD is so commanding in its musicality that one can hardly imagine being able to sit still for the live recital itself, given in Carnegie Hall in Feb. 1993. Kissin had already made the debut of a lifetime, also recorded by RCA, but this Chopin recital and its compansion from the same event exhibit a towering mastery. The famous showpieces–the F minor Fantasy, Grande Valse Brillante, F-sharp minor Polonaise, Scherzo #2–eclipse all rivals unless you go back to Rachmaninov, and the audience knew it. Their applause is a roar of ecstatic approval.

Editorial Reviews- Amazon.com
Kissin gives us Horowitz's brilliance, without the nervous affectations and missed notes, and Rubinstein's healthy athleticism and grandeur, without the occasional inattention to detail. In a performance such as this, Kissin convinces us that he is at once the Horowitz and the Rubinstein of our era–and perhaps superior to either. In Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Kissin almost never falters in evoking the inherently Russian quality of the tableaux –Stephen Wigler
Customer Reviews:
Genius!! • Excellent Pictures • Great "Pictures" • Horowitz surpassed • Great recording • Brilliant, but idiosyncractic • Transcendant pianism of the highest order