When I was a young boy, my mother took me to see Arthur Rubinstein when he performed in Dallas. In my 20s, I traveled to Houston from Dallas to see Vladimir Horowitz. When I was in graduate school in Michigan, I drove to Chicago to see Maurizio Pollini. Although I don’t remember the details of those concerts, I can say that I saw three of the greatest pianists of the 20^th century. For classical music lovers, those concerts were events. And now I can add another to my list.

On April 24, the Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin returned to Walt Disney Concert Hall. The last time he performed here was 16 years ago. The packed Walt Disney Concert Hall was there to see one of the finest and most lauded pianists of our generation. 

Kissin began the program with the Bach Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV 826. He then played three pieces by Chopin: the Nocturne Op. 27, No. 1 in C-sharp Minor, the Nocturne Op. 32, No. 2 in A-flat major, and the Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54. The second half was devoted to works by Shostakovich in honor of the 50^th anniversary of the composer’s death, including the Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor, Op. 61, followed by two of the Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, No. 15 in D-flat major and No. 24 in D minor.

From Bach to Shostakovich, Kissin’s distinctive style was evident. First, one couldn’t help but notice his mastery of balance between the right and left hands. When the melody was in the right hand, the notes were crystal clear while the right-hand accompaniment was always held back. But the left hand wasn’t obscured; it perfectly complemented the right hand.

Second, even though Kissin can dazzle with the best of them, he was more interested in music making, from his selection of the pieces on the program to his playing. This began with the Bach, which certainly has its moments of technical demands, especially in the courante and capriccio. Like all great Bach interpreters, Kissin kept the individual voices clear and distinct.  

Kissin seamlessly moved from the Baroque Bach to the Romantic Chopin, one of Kissin’s specialties. His sensitive playing perfectly expressed the emotional roller coaster of the two nocturnes, which, like many of Chopin’s nocturnes, begin simply enough with distinctive melodies in the right hand but then have middle sections that are more active and louder and often change keys and even time signatures before returning to the original simpler melodies.

Kissin’s performance of the Scherzo No. 4 was a tour de force. His fingers danced lightly on the keys for the main theme but then displayed power and intensity when called for. At the conclusion, the audience jumped to its feet as if it were the end of the concert.

For the second half, Kissin used scores and a page turner. But this did not diminish the intensity of his playing or his devotion to Shostakovich’s music. Here was an eminent Russian pianist in his prime playing music for the piano by a Russian composer with whom his life overlapped by a few years. It was a poignant performance, which ranged from the sublime in the second movement of the sonata to an almost 8-minute fugue in Shostakovich’s last Prelude and Fugue, the one in D minor, which starts off quietly and serenely, almost Bach-like, but builds gradually to a tumultuous conclusion.

When the program ended, the audience was not finished with Kissin, nor he with them. They brought him out for three encores. He teased the audience with the first encore: the second movement (Siciliano) from Bach’s Flute Sonata in E-Flat Major BWV. 1031 (transc. Kempff). But then he brought out another big gun — the Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor by Chopin, which he tore through to thunderous applause. He calmed the audience somewhat with his last encore, the Waltz in C# minor, Op. 64, No. 2 by Chopin.

It may sound trite to say that the audience was there for Kissin because all audiences are there for the performer, but different artists bring in unique audiences. From the resounding screaming and applause that greeted Kissin when he first came on stage to the unbridled enthusiastic reception at the end of the concert, this was clearly an audience that appreciated the fact that they were able to attend a concert by Evgeny Kissin. 

—Henry Schlinger, Culture Spot LA

For information about upcoming concerts, visit www.laphil.com.

Photo of Evgeny Kissing courtesy of LA Phil