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RCA

Bach-Busoni, Beethoven, Schumann / Evgeny Kissin

$17.99 Only 2 left

Details

Composer
BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN
Artist
Evgeni, Kissin
Format
CD
Label
RCA
Released
Apr 21, 2011
Catalog #
RCA68911
UPC
090266891122

About

If Kissin were a singer, he would definitely be on the opera stage. He produces a sound which is deep, weighty and brilliant, and projects the opening of Kreisleriana as if he were Jove himself venting his rage.

Yevgeny Kissin may look like a marionette, but if he were a singer, he would definitely be on the opera stage. He does not bash, but he produces a sound which is deep, weighty and brilliant. He projects the opening piece of Kreisleriana as if he were Jove himself venting his rage – not quite the passionate eccentricity Schumann had in mind, perhaps, though the contrasting quiet section is delicious. Nor does the second piece begin quite ‘inwardly’ as marked, though it is very considered, and while Kissin makes the first Intermezzo dazzling, he misses Schumann’s simple joy. From the second Intermezzo alone you know it is Kissin playing because of his characteristic – and deliberate – dragging of the left hand behind the right. His constant virtue is commitment to every single note he plays, which makes the final section of this extended piece, if much larger than life, incredibly compelling.

No pianist today (or yesterday) is more lavishly gifted than Kissin purely as a technician. For natural brilliance, perhaps, Martha Argerich compares, and it is her recording of Kreisleriana with which this new release invites comparison. Though Kissin’s recording is rich and spacious, it doesn’t make use of the microphone to produce all those half-lights and impalpable shadows that Argerich achieved. And Kissin hasn’t Argerich’s range of response to the picturesque – none of her secretive mood in the third piece, her impish glee in the fifth, nor above all, her sense of intimacy.

And yet, on its own, very ‘public’ terms, this issue is overwhelming, with a performance of the Bach-Busoni Chaconne which, for once, bears no sign of straining the medium.

Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Adrian Jack, BBC Music Magazine

Tracklist 13 tracks

  1. 1 Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: V. Chaconne (arr. F. Busoni for piano) 14:56
    Track
    1
    Title
    Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: V. Chaconne (arr. F. Busoni for piano)
    Duration
    14:56
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  2. 2 Rondo in G Major, Op. 51, No. 2 08:29
    Track
    2
    Title
    Rondo in G Major, Op. 51, No. 2
    Duration
    08:29
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  3. 3 Rondo a capriccio in G Major, Op. 129, "Rage over a lost penny" 05:25
    Track
    3
    Title
    Rondo a capriccio in G Major, Op. 129, "Rage over a lost penny"
    Duration
    05:25
    Composer
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  4. 4 I. Ausserst bewegt 02:46
    Track
    4
    Title
    I. Ausserst bewegt
    Duration
    02:46
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  5. 5 II. Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch 02:19
    Track
    5
    Title
    II. Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch
    Duration
    02:19
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  6. 6 Intermezzo 02:28
    Track
    6
    Title
    Intermezzo
    Duration
    02:28
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  7. 7 Intermezzo II 04:53
    Track
    7
    Title
    Intermezzo II
    Duration
    04:53
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  8. 8 III. Sehr aufgeregt 04:21
    Track
    8
    Title
    III. Sehr aufgeregt
    Duration
    04:21
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  9. 9 IV. Sehr langsam 03:47
    Track
    9
    Title
    IV. Sehr langsam
    Duration
    03:47
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  10. 10 V. Sehr lebhaft 03:31
    Track
    10
    Title
    V. Sehr lebhaft
    Duration
    03:31
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  11. 11 VI. Sehr langsam 04:25
    Track
    11
    Title
    VI. Sehr langsam
    Duration
    04:25
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  12. 12 VII. Sehr rasch 01:57
    Track
    12
    Title
    VII. Sehr rasch
    Duration
    01:57
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin
  13. 13 VIII. Schnell und spielend 03:39
    Track
    13
    Title
    VIII. Schnell und spielend
    Duration
    03:39
    Composer
    Robert Schumann
    Performer
    Evgeny Kissin