Evgeny Kissin Plays Brahms

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The centerpiece of this CD is Brahms' Sonata, Opus 5, which he composed when he was 20 years old. At 38 minutes, it is a grand, expansive, five-movement work, practically symphonic in its complexity and format. The first movement is severe and intense, the second a love song-lullaby, the third alternates big-boned expressivity with great lyricism, the fourth evokes great tragedy, and the finale is a masterpiece of contrapuntal writing. Kissin's virtuosity is astounding--he can thunder or whisper--and his sense of line, melody, and mood are impeccable. His joy at playing the piano and just plain music-making is something to behold. Two pieces from Op. 76 (composed 22 years after the sonata) express a folksy flavor and sentimental yearning, respectively, and the five brief Hungarian Dances (transcribed for piano by the composer from his orchestral works) are perfect encores--energetic and easy to grasp. This is a glorious disc, a must for lovers of great pianism, and another feather in Kissin's already impressive cap. --Robert Levine

Tracks:

Allegro Maestoso
Andante Espressivo
Scherzo: Allegro Energico
Intermezzo: Andante Molto
Finale: Allegro Moderato Ma Rubato
Intermezzo
Capriccio
No. 1 in G Minor
No. 3 in F
No. 2 in D Minor
No. 7 in F
No. 6 in D-Flat

Amazon.com

The centerpiece of this CD is Brahms' Sonata, Opus 5, which he composed when he was 20 years old. At 38 minutes, it is a grand, expansive, five-movement work, practically symphonic in its complexity and format. The first movement is severe and intense, the second a love song-lullaby, the third alternates big-boned expressivity with great lyricism, the fourth evokes great tragedy, and the finale is a masterpiece of contrapuntal writing. Kissin's virtuosity is astounding--he can thunder or whisper--and his sense of line, melody, and mood are impeccable. His joy at playing the piano and just plain music-making is something to behold. Two pieces from Op. 76 (composed 22 years after the sonata) express a folksy flavor and sentimental yearning, respectively, and the five brief Hungarian Dances (transcribed for piano by the composer from his orchestral works) are perfect encores--energetic and easy to grasp. This is a glorious disc, a must for lovers of great pianism, and another feather in Kissin's already impressive cap. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Fulfilling........2004-08-06

Evgeny Kissin is quite possibly the best child to hit the world's stage, receiving international acclaim for his performance of the chopin concertos at age 12, since Josef Hoffman at the turn of the century. I know I am with all when I say this, he has the greatest potential of a pianist alive today. Before, I have listened to a great deal of Kissin, the Rachmaninoff 2nd and 3rd concertos, Chopin ballades, scherzi, several nocturnes and other assorted pieces. All have been close, very close, to incredible. It's just that he didn't really figure out the pieces, except the Rach 2 which was as good as it gets. But on this CD. It's everything. The Sonata, first and foremost, is an absolute delight. It's practically flawless. The Opus 79 pieces are "dessert" pieces, and very well played. But the Hungarian Dances! They absolutely capture the essence of a Hungarian Dance. My teacher stresses the feeling of "ballando", you should be able to make the listener want to get up and move around and dance while you are playing. And, quite frankly, that's exactly what I did while listening to each of these. They are fantastic, purely fantastic.

Thank you, Mr. Kissin. If this CD doesn't get where you should, it will sure as heck get you about 3/4 of the way. An encore, please. I wouldn't mind hearing Brahms' concertos . . . .

The Messiah Plays Brahms.......2004-02-14

Kissin has done it again, surprising his listeners in the most unusual places (I'm thinking of the tender passages of the Paganini Variations and the funeral march of the Chopin Sonata on earlier recordings). I, too, expected to be wowed by the Sonata on this disc, and then to enjoy the Hungarian Dances as pleasant little additions. Think again, folks. The sonata is, of course, brilliant and wonderful and more interesting than I've heard it from anyone else, but in the passion and sheer MUSIC that he finds in those old over-worked Hungarian dances, he truly brings the dead back to life. Listen to this while you're alone, because if you can recognize and respond to great piano playing, you will be jumping up and down and howling and weeping with joy.

PERHAPS THE BEST IS STILL TO COME.......2003-12-09

The sound at the start is simply terrific. At first I couldn't remember such an impact from the opening bars of any piano piece since I heard Serkin in the Hammerklavier more than 30 years ago, and that was a live performance. The mood stayed with me through the rest of the sonata. Everything was not only right, but outstandingly right. The alternations of blazing declamation and hushed awe and unease in the first movement were balanced perfectly. The flowing lyricism of the second movement built up with just the right intensity to its climax and relapsed again as it ideally should. The swagger in the third movement was effortless and in the right sense arrogant. The Ruckblick was pensive, anxious and resigned. The finale's wide tonal contrasts were handled with an effortless command, and from first to last the monstrous technical demands of the work were met with an Olympian near-disdain.

The A minor intermezzo from the op 76 set was next, and I was struck again by the natural instinct this player has for this composer, as I had been when I heard him in the op 116 set on a disc he had done 10 years or more previously. I remembered comparing his accounts with those of Katchen in his great omnibus Brahms set, and I remembered on balance rating Kissin better. This prompted me to remind myself how Katchen handled the sonata, and that was when I got something of a shock. The recorded sound Katchen was given was good in its time, but not even distantly comparable to Kissin's with its tremendous resonant low registers. All the same, it was quite good enough for me to realise that Katchen's despatch of the opening bars, and indeed of the whole first movement, was every bit as virtuosic and commanding as Kissin's. I found the same in the scherzo, and I found the same again in the finale. What was more, I found a marked similarity in the interpretations, and where they differed, notably at the end of the first movement where Kissin delivers a `triumphant conclusion' (Beethoven-style presumably) as specified in the liner note and Katchen gives me something I found more distinctively Brahmsian, I found myself tending to prefer Katchen. This impression was reinforced in the two slow sections. Good as Kissin is in the main andante, there is more inwardness from Katchen. Moreover to my surprise I even found Katchen more effective in some minor technical aspects, notably better definition in the trills and a more even delivery of the drumming repeated left-hand phrases in the Ruckblick.

The famous B minor capriccio is excellent, the speed fastish like Backhaus although predictably more flexible, not slowish as in Rubinstein's very striking reading. It leads in the 5 Hungarian dances, apparently favourite encores of Kissin's. These are less to my taste. Kissin changes his style of playing here, and I find him a bit too excitable. The changes of speed are right up to a point, but I have actually heard a Hungarian dance played (and introduced) by Brahms himself and it was a bit more sober than this approach. Kissin departs, I can only suppose deliberately, from his previous rhythmic finesse and pecks at the rhythm in a way I can't really get on with, particularly in the second and fourth of his selection - I heard Rattle give the former as an encore in the orchestrated version and it was another experience entirely.

This has to be a 5-star issue because the performance of the sonata is simply prodigious. The last recital disc I bought by Kissin was when he was 20 years old or less, and then I hoped and expected to find in him the special kind of individuality that I find in, say, Horowitz, Serkin, Michelangeli, Richter, Cziffra, Gould and Ogdon. Maybe I yet shall.

Stunning and Dramatic Kissin.......2003-12-05

'I wish I didn't have to play a virtuosic pieces for the sake of virtuosity. It's not that I dislike these pieces, but I am interested in other things' - Kissin

It seems Kissin has reached a crossroad. I was somewhat suprised by the way he played this sonata. It wasn't what I was expecting but it was no less Delightful. I was drooling when I poped this disc into my cd player, awaiting the euphoria brought about by kissins virtuosity. Instead I got a deep introverted interpretation that seemed to reflect kissins true personality.
I Highly recomend this disc to anyone who likes a deep passionate musical expirience. And for those of you who like the firey technique and amazing control of Kissin, this disc is for you, on account of the encores as well as the sonata. WOW!

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