Chopin Recital, Vol. 1--Recorded at Carnegie Hall

I thought Rubenstein was the gold standard for Chopin. However, after listening to this CD I must confess that I have *never* heard better versions of the Nocturnes (A & C) or the Fantasy. Evgeny Kissin is definitely at his best here.
I am at a loss for words to express how beautifully the music has been rendered. The sound quality is very good. Superb. Absolutely a must have CD.

This is for sure the most impressing CD I have so far listened about Chopin at all! Actually it's simply the best piece of music I have listened ever.
The initial Fantasia Op.49 it's simply great and Kissin shows all his wonderful talent(I saw him in life concert in London at Royal Hall and I was deeply admired of his genius).The Nocturnes are really touchy and incredibly smoothly played. The Great Walzer are also played with extreme sensibility that I was almost moved by them. But in my opinion the best piece of music I have ever listened about composition and performance is The Polonaise Op.44. In fact it had so deeply touched me when I listend at it the first time, that I will always remember the atmosphere created from this music in a small room of a Residence in London with 2 Japanise friends of mine drinking wine and eating chease....while this music was plaing at candel-light...was impressing the feeling created by this music! You will listen at the end of this performance a large clapping hands from the audience (the CD is life recorded at Carnegie Hall in New York). You want a suggestion from me? Buy this CD and you will have forever a piano masterpiece with you for all the best moment of your life. I really mean it.
Bye from Italy.
Your faithfull Luca (greetings to all my friends around the world)

I must confess myself quite perplexed at the success of Evgeni Kissin. Nobody could deny that Kissin is a very professional pianist with great facility. A pianist myself, I decided not to go on in music, since I really did not have the advantage of being in a competitive atmosphere early enough. Since both my parents are professional musicians, I know how difficult it is and how accurate and reliable a soloist must be in front of the public. Nevertheless, I have had some good training from a French pianist who was one of Alfred Cortot's last students. I can say that Evgeni Kissin, though a perfectly reliable "businessman" has very little if any technique. My observation stems from both listening to this recording in full as well as from watching the video Evgeni Kissin's "Gift of Music."

Facility is the natural ease with which one does something, whereas technique in pianistic terms must by the nature of the Greek word "techne" whence it stems concern the perfection of a craft or skill in accordance with a practical method. Kissin's unconventionality would be permissible if it worked to convey the music. I will list however, the three general areas in which he errs: hand position (his fingers are cramped, overcurved, arch collapsed), overall position (his back slouches at times, and he often sways and contorts his upper body), sound(because of the above two things, dynamic contrasts are difficult, and he does universally play too loud and has a lack of balance.

On to the recording in question, however, and some more specific comments. The F# minor Polonaise starting tempo is too slow and pretentious. The opening octaves are over-pedalled, thus losing their bite(listen to Horowitz's!), the rythm is a bit sodden and imprecise, and the intro loses its forcefulness owing to a holding back in dynamics where there should be forcefulness. Also he does something which a good performed should never do slow down the climactic octave passages leading to the climactic cadences of thematic section A. This sounds as though he is slowing it down in order to get every note or because it is a technical struggle. It is actually better to miss the note than to actually drastically reduce the tempo for that reason.

The Nocturnes are a bit better, probably because of the easier technique involved. Though the A-flat Major (a divine though not frequently performed piece) suffers from a an overly quick tempo, and pallid dynamic range. The middle section (so exquisitely performed by the Bolshoi Chopiniana ballet) is limp -- it is overpedalled making true portamento playing (which Chopin intended) impossible. I would remark however, that Kissin does not seem to understand touch in Chopin. Legato (as in the E-flat nocturne), and portamento (as in the etude op. 10, no. 9) are the general touches to be employed and in fact Chopin rarely marks a staccato. This is not to say that if one desires it that it cannot be used, but with taste and good judgment. The 2nd Scherzo stands out. On the chords, he releases the last one too soon, resulting in an airiness where there should be real solidity and power. This is a bit "dinky" as is lack of clarity in his descending dominant 7th arpeggios and slight slackening of the tempo in the successive lyrical section. The Fantasie has similar problems to the introduction of the Polonaise with the addition of overly bombastic crude loudness in the dramatic sections. Yes, Chopin is describing his tempestuous relationship with Georges Sand, but there must still be taste and refinement.
Also, on the first page of the fantasy we see the dotted march rythm which Kissin lengthens. I do not wish to be doctrinaire about this, but usually when this is done the rythm becomes flabby, and a lot of people do not seem to get this right

Overall, Kissin's facility is impressive. He is a natural, and his professional training has been superb, but not his artistic and technical training. I would urge people not to be impressed by his hair, which resembles that of a mad scientist in the Einstein tradition, but listen truly to what he actually produces. I think it is representative of the waning classical market that many people do not seem to be able to tell the difference between a Kissin and a Rachmaninoff, a Friedman or a Saperton. I noticed that some reviewers had compared Kissin to Ashkenazy. I think this is wrong. Ashkenazy is a great pianist with superb technical training, so I would urge people to listen to this or to the Etudes recordings of John Browning which are also very clear and technically impressive. In short don't just become interested in something because it seems new and innovative for its own sake.