Evgeny Kissin (RU)

About

Also known as: Evgency Kissin, Evgeni Igorevich Kissin, Evgeni Kissin, Evgeny Igorevich Kissin, Evgeny Kissen, Evgeny Kissin, Yevgeni Kissin, Yevgeny Kissin, Евгений Игоревич Кисин

Few pianists carry the weight of the Romantic repertoire quite like Evgeny Kissin. The Moscow born virtuoso built his reputation on deeply lyrical, poetic readings of Chopin, Schubert, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Brahms, earning him a place in the lineage of the great Russian piano school. He burst onto the international scene as a child prodigy, and by his late teens he was performing with Herbert von Karajan at the Berlin Philharmonic and making his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. In 1997 he made history by giving the first ever solo piano recital at the BBC Proms. Kissin is far more than a concert machine, though. He recites Russian and Yiddish poetry, has published an autobiography and several books in Yiddish, and composes seriously, with works ranging from piano pieces and a cello sonata to a string quartet. When Russia invaded Ukraine, he was quick to speak out and composed a piano trio in direct response, premiering it in Amsterdam in 2022.