My wife and I saw him in Chicago, Sunday, 4-16-23. What a treat! When you get to hear a pianist with the most perfect technique on the planet from short distance, it checks a special box on the bucket list for a die hard piano fan.
When Kissin’s name is posted, you don’t even need to ask what he’s going to play. You just GO, and wince at the price. I paid the piper about six years ago to get seats at a much greater distance in the balcony, play a primarily Liszt program. He was ELECTRIC and THRILLING to hear live. I assumed I’d never hear him again. But my kids threw in for this expensive Christmas gift of prime seats at the CSO venue. Thanks to Shannon, Leah & Cole!
Evgeny Kissin was born in Moscow in 1971. He was a world renowned pianist by age twelve. YES, age 12. He thought so much of his first piano teacher, Anna Kantor, that she was his ONLY teacher. She traveled with him as his career sky rocketed. We have extremely high quality recordings of his entire career- from venues all over the globe. They’re in heavy rotation through my hi-fi.
Much of his repertoire is right up my alley. That includes anything Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt & Rachmaninoff.
What I mean by the best technique is, he has the ability to play trills or FIST FULLS of notes evenly and without missing a key or beat. We amateurs practice for hours just trying to trill without hiccups. We can get INTO trills but it’s much harder to get OUT cleanly. We might play one cord just fine but when jumping to the next- miss part of it. We smear, roll, splatter and … cheat (!) in our obfuscation of what the real music should sound like.
With Kissin, you hear even the most difficult music (Rachmaninoff) played as it was constructed. For those of us who (try to) play, it’s like watching Tiger Woods in his prime. You want to throw your clubs in the lake and go home. We marvel at what a human being can do with his hands and BRAIN.
Even touring pros who practice many hours a day can be heard smudging cords or runs on the piano because- it’s just so dang HARD to “perfect.” Kissin is the unicorn who can play the toughest Chopin, Brahms, Liszt or Rach- and let you hear every detail as if you’re seeing the music with crystal clarity instead of through a fog.
We were about 50 feet away, dead center in the CSO hall. I could see Kissin’s hands move like motors in tough passages, but the notes came out clearly. No matter how fast or thick- (Rach!) we heard these pieces with exquisite construction, instead of just a morass of notes.
Critics who review the short list of superstars like Kissin and Volodos, grudgingly acknowledge that their skills are world class. But they grouse that their hearts can’t be stilled to play beautifully. Of course that is hogwash. The fact is, it’s practically unfair that Kissin can play Liszt and Rach with stunning perfection, AND play Mozart beautifully as well. Just because he can drive 200 MPH doesn’t mean he can’t take his time and be contemplative.
His mastery of the instrument is complete. Clearly he’s scoured the scores and brings his informed interpretation to his performance. He is our medium to the great composers.
There are many fine pianists out there. I’ve been fortunate to hear a hundred or more. But for me, Kissin stands at the top of the pyramid of brilliant, supremely skilled musicians.
A great athlete is lucky to have a career of 15-20 years. Lebron James is the absolute exception in that he’s still at the top of his game 20 years down the road at age 38. Evgeny Kissin has been near or on top of the mountain for almost 40 years already. If he’s lucky enough to enjoy good health with his wife in Paris, maybe we can squeeze another 30 years of magic out of him.
For us hi-fi aficionados… this is even more fascinating. We have Kissin’s wonderful recordings from the dawn of the digital era- 44.1. He is plenty young enough, and still in his prime, to re-record EVERYTHING in a higher res format- or totally new technology (!?!) if the market is there to pay him to do it!
We have good analog recordings of Horowitz as an older guy. They’re well worth hearing. Yet when he was ablaze as a young to middle aged pianist… those recordings are unlistenable to spotty.
How fortunate we are to have Kissin, in full flight, TODAY!
