Chopin: 24 Preludes, Op. 28; Sonata No. 2 "Funeral March"; Polonaise, Op. 53

Kissin skeptics argue too frequently that by virtue of his exploitation of his exceptional talent, he is a musical hack, a showman who rarely finds the 'music' he is attempting to play. I find this argument unconvincing.

Kissin is quite simply the most talented pianist in the world. There is nothing he can't do with those 88 keys. And, yes, he will always remind the listener (or viewer) that there are perhaps a handful of people in the world who can play a particular piece at the tempo and in as many clear, distinct voices as he plays. For instance, I was immediately off-put by his playing of the 'Heroic' Polonaise, op. 53, track #29 on this album; Kissin plays at a roughly 30% higher tempo than any other pianist I have heard. But that is not to say it lacks clarity or reflection (at least as much reflection as was intended by Chopin).

For anyone who has doubts about Kissin's ability to completely reveal all nuances that any composer may have intended in a piece, I strongly recommend listening to Kissin's performance of Liszt's Paganini variation #3 (La Campanella), available only, I believe, on Kissin's 'The Gift of Music' DVD biography. Anyone familiar with the piece and other recordings of it have to be simply weakened at the knees by Kissin's complete domination of the piece, again at a significantly higher tempo than others would dare to attempt.

Yes, this is a piece only for the showman's showman, and offers little musical value as a composition, but Kissin's technical brilliance and clarity illustrate that his performance can only be criticized for an over-reading of the score and this is only a hindrance when he plays music from the Classical and/or Baroque era.

A final note on the above point:

I find it difficult to not enjoy pieces like those I allude to above, notably Back's Toccata, Adagio and Fugue (his use of the pedal is sometimes embarrassing) on the Mussorgsky CD and Beethoven's 'Moonlight' Sonata, even if they clearly do not represent the style of playing possible, nevermind intended, of the respective composers. It seems to me a curious phenomenon: Kissin's complete unwillingness to tailor his playing to meet the style of the composer...he is 93 Unleaded Supercharged, 100% of the time. And for this, his loyal fans are thankful, even if we're forced to shrug our shoulders and just laugh at him once in a while.