Chopin: The Four Ballades, Berceuse, Barcarolle, Scherzo No. 4

Frederic Chopin (Composer), Evgeny Kissin (Performer), Evgeni Kissin (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Evgeny Kissin
• Composer: Frederic Chopin
• Audio CD (May 18, 1999)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B00000IWWE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,851 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #14 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Scherzo
  • #86 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Ballads

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars incredible - but be careful..., October 6, 2003

By 

J. Huang (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chopin: The Four Ballades, Berceuse, Barcarolle, Scherzo No. 4 (Audio CD)

Kissin is a dazzling performer, and his versions of the ballades is essential for anyone building a library of classical piano music. However, Kissin, I'm going to venture to say here, is as unpianistic as Glenn Gould was. If Gould put everything under a microscope, Kissin approaches everything in panorama. Both are extremes (which does not mean Gould wasn't a genius). Both pianists freely compromise a composer's intentions to fit their personal styles.

Kissin has a fluid, liquid-silver tone, and a dynamic range obviously geared to the concert hall. He makes things sound big and spacious. His technique is so sophisticated that he has driven himself permanently to some misty, rarefied plateau in the sky. The result is that sometimes you feel nothing at all has happened. His performances never touch the ground.

Having said that, it IS a lovely place when you're up there with him. But it's impersonal. People that buy this album that don't own any other version should equip themselves with something a little more standard while they're at it. I have an affinity for Arrau's ballades. With Kissin, you miss the close Chopin, the dear Chopin.

Anyway, No. 2 is absolutely frightening. Sometimes you wonder if he's playing the same music...

-Selah

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I don't care what people say, Kissin HAS matured., July 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Chopin: The Four Ballades, Berceuse, Barcarolle, Scherzo No. 4 (Audio CD)

This recording, in my opinion, is yet another confirmation of Kissin's talent. To all of you who have criticized this recording (or Kissin's playing in general), I say that wether or not this particular interpretation pushes all the right buttons for you or not, I really don't think you can deny the fact that Kissin is a great artist. I, for example, don't like everything Schnabel does in the Beethoven Sonatas, but that doesn't make Schnabel any less an artist. And to say that his playing hasn't matured over the years is downright silly. His tonal spectrum has diversified a great deal. I especially notice that he can play a beautiful sotto voce, which I don't hear in his earlier recordings. And for God's sake, give the man a break. He's not even thirty years old. We can't expect him to do a lifetime worth of maturing in six years! I've listened to these pieces a lot the past few years and I dare say I know them quite well. Nevertheless, Kissin brings out aspects of them I hadn't noticed before, especially inner lines. Sure, he may not be as spontanious as Argerich or Richter (I never cared much for Richter's Chopin), but he is a true artist who puts the music in first place and himself second. Regarding Kissin's practising habits, which someone here mentioned before, Kissin usually practises about four hours a day. This, as he says, is plenty if you have any real talent. Surprising as it may seem, a large portion of the soul-searching mentioned in an earlier review goes on away from the piano. Besides, practising seven hours a day every day can damage your hands, plain and simple. One last thought. Someone commented that "Many of the phrases have little shape". Listen to the middle section of the Scherzo and tell me the phrase has no shape.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ad astra per aspera, June 19, 2000

By 

tom bennignus (Samara, Russia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chopin: The Four Ballades, Berceuse, Barcarolle, Scherzo No. 4 (Audio CD)

Having heard Evgeny Kissin in the house on three separate occasions in solo repertoire of Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin and Brahms as well as in the Beethoven "Emperor" with the Cleveland Orchestra under Ashkenazy, I am fully convinced that Kissin is not only the most gifted of the younger pianists but the only real candidate before the public for classification as an "immortal". The recording considered herein confirms this in every way. I heard Evgeny in Chicago in an all-Chopin program that broke my heart. His limpid playing, his tonal palette and the controlled, yet open emotion literally moved me to tears. Therefore, it was with great excitement that I purchased the Ballades and audited them. There was not only no disappointment but a renewed sense of why this young man is esteemed so highly. Words like transcendent, numinous and revelatory come to mind upon hearing this recording. The powerful technique that Kissin commands can hide the humanity of this great pianist; however, careful, heartbased appreciation of Kissin's art opens us to his world. It is so deep, so honest and searching that it seems impossible that one so young could know so much. However, such is the case with genius, especially one nurtured so carefully and lovingly. For some small introduction to the warmth of this master, I commend the recent video of Kissin, "The Gift of Music". Kissin is for me the "desert island" pianist, sine qua non. This brilliant recording now commands pride of place in my collection.