Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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

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.

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.

While Kissin's recording of the Chopin Ballades won't displace Rubinstein from my shelf, he nevertheless offers the listener much to enjoy here. He does take some liberties which can be a bit extreme, as noted in a previous review, but his virtuosity is compelling. I felt that the sound and the production were both outstanding, but this is always a subjective judgment, especially when discussing recordings of solo piano music. If you must have your Ballades played the way you have always heard them, then this recording is probably not for you. But if you are ready for a different approach, give it a try.

There are many things I wished for more in this recording that I did not here, but also a seemingly limitless amount of surprises to be discovered every time I listen to this CD. It is nonsense to talk about his tecnique - take that for granted, but the interpretations are full of contrasts and yet fluid. And that in these ups and downs there are solid ideas under construction is a marvel seldom heard of. I strongly recommend this performance if your looking for a new approach to the ballades - still the Rubinstein recording is master.

Powerfull,lyrical, clean, etc. It's simply fabulous. I admit though that it's special in a way but nothing eccentrical. Just a bit personal at times. Five stars!

Despite what many detractors say about him, it's refreshing to follow the career of Kissin, who's something of a barn-raising virtuoso in the order of old-world. Especially after the analytic and consciously modern pianism that dominated the 70's and 80's (Pollini, Brendel, et al.), his voluptuous virtuosity is something to savor and relish.

The Chopin Ballades highlight many of Kissin's strengths as a pianist. He never runs away with any of the pieces, and unlike Horowitz, another technical magician, Kissin has a fine structual and intellectual sense of whatever he plays. The playing sounds spontaneous, yet we also know how much he has considered each and every piece.

The Ballade # 2 is hair-raising, and I can presume, will not be surpassed in the near future. After the lyrical introduction, Kissin plunges into a frenetic, red-blooded account of the rising and falling of notes. Con fuoco indeed. The #1 is almost as fine, although it starts curiously slow-tempoed, but by the cadenza, Kissin has you in thrall. #4, perhaps the most demanding of the Ballades, escapes from Kissin somewhat. It's a curiously low-key, even-tempered negotiation.

The real highlight of the CD is his Berceuse. No other pianist works the pedals as judiciously or with more sensitive sophistication of Kissin. The ethereal sound he coaxes out of his piano must be heard to be believed. Even after hearing, you will not believe your ears.

All in all, a fine interpretation of staple of Chopin pieces. There are some idiosyncrasies, such as letting his left hand always precede the right by a hair. And sometimes, he sounds too eager to make a musical point, not letting the pieces proceed on their own right. I must say, in my opinion, the benchmark for many of these pieces, especially the Ballades, is still the singularly gorgeous Krystian Zimerman disc issued some years back by Deutsche Gramophone. But Kissin is a musical force to contend with, and he establishes himself as one of premier Chopin interpreters in this era.

I have not had the good fortune to hear Evegny Kissin play in person. I do recall when he was a dazzling child prodigy. There was something special about him that seemed to me to be predict that he would be one of the few of those prodigies that would mature into a brilliant and mature pianist of the highest order. He has. He is the real deal. But I still find it hard to believe he is forty now. I hope I will yet get a chance to hear him play live. This disk was recorded in Germany over three days in August in 1998 when Kissin was just short of his 27th birthday. He shows real musical maturity here while retaining a great amount of youthful fire.

Disks like this are a treasure to have. Here he plays the four Chopin Ballades, the Berceuse and Barcarolle, and the Scherzo No. 4. All great works with each demanding not only great and mature technique, but deep musical understanding, as well. Kissin has it all.

The Ballades were composed between 1833 and 1843. The first was completed in 1835 and published a year later. The second in 1839, the third in 1841, the fourth in 1843. They are all very different pieces. Yet, they tell stories, but what the stories are is up to each listener. Some musicologists believe they were Chopin's impressions of stories from his native Poland and based on poems by the Pole Adam Mickiewcz, who was a contemporary of Chopin, but a decade or so older. He also moved in Parisian artistic circles. You can easily look up the poems usually assigned to each and see if it helps you "understand" the works any more. I think they are niceties, but the pieces are so powerful that I think it is easy to confront them on your own terms with your own humanity and take them to heart with deep meaning from your own life and soul.

That does not mean that they are simple works or easy to deal with. When I first heard them they frustrated me because they are such big works and don't fall into any easy category of music. Frankly, they frustrated me until they became more familiar through repeated hearings and struggling with them at the piano. Now they seem so inevitable to me that I struggle with remembering the chaos they seemed to be when I first heard them. But I trusted Chopin and went deeper into the music. Chopin, for me, is one of those artists whose art is so deep that I can never come to the end of it. No matter the work I put into it there is always a wonderful return and more depths to sound.

Kissin is equal to each of these works. He has a conviction about the musical story he wants to tell. He is a sound dramatist and unfolds the music to arrive at his chosen climax for each work power to spare and the speed and power he has for the most virtuosic sections is more dazzling that I expected. Really, even though I knew who he was and had been shocked by his pianism before. Even with these familiar works, he surprised me.

The Berceuse and Barcarolle are almost always performed together. They go well together because they complement each other and yet demand fabulous pianism and artistry, but of different types. The Berceuse is a little work from 1844. It uses the same short harmonic phrase over and over again. The bass pattern is repeated with more than a dozen continuous variations in the style of an improvisation over a ground bass. The level of playing required is very high in order to make it sound as effortless as the lullaby requires. If it sounds strained at all the effect is ruined. It must simply float and glow and the pianist must invite us to dream with the beauty of the work. I think Kissin achieves this. Which is high praise and a great accomplishment.
The Barcarolle is based on the style of a Venetian Boat Song, but this is a Romantic Masterwork for the piano beyond almost all compare. It is one of my favorite works. Fantastically beautiful and demanding. The piece is all about trills, thirds, sixths, and octaves over a recurring base. The formal structure of this piece is more regular than any of the Ballades, but in scope and feel it is almost like a fifth Ballade. While the piece stretches us mortal pianists, Kissin tosses it off like a trained runner taking a quick breath after a short run.

The disk concludes with the largest of the four Scherzos. They are big works like the Ballades but even more dramatic in character. This one is the most fun and takes the term Scherzo (joke) most at face value. Still it is a delightful work that Kissin plays as if he is having a delightful day with us and wants to share the joy of the piano with a few of his closest friends. And I am grateful to be able to enjoy this disk with him.

I hope you do, too.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Saline, MI

INTRODUCTION: Having looked at some seven other recordings of Chopin's four Ballades--in my view the most perfect condensate of musical and pianistic refinement in the entire piano oeuvre, and hence amongst the musical treasures closest to my heart--we are now moving to my short list of preferred versions, in reversed order: Kissin, Zimerman, Moravec, Ohlsson and Demidenko. What connects the dots between these performers is their sense of measuredness in combination with the ability to bring out the deeper levels of these bottomless masterpieces.

REFERENCES: Demidenko (Chopin: Ballades; Third Sonata); Ohlsson (Garrick Ohlsson - The Complete Chopin Piano Works Vol. 3 - Ballades)

Kissin's 1998 Ballades take up the Chopin thread where his extensive 1993 live Carnegie Hall program left off. His Chopin playing is here as accomplished and assured as ever. However, there are two major changes to be noted: firstly, the good news, there is a bolder and more mature way of painting Chopin's colourful textures; secondly, the bad news, I believe it was about this time that the tendency to substitute youthful spontaneity for mannered effect seeking began to creep into his performances. This highly unfortunate development of Kissin's prodigious playing is only partly noticeable in this release--especially in the Fourth Ballade, Barcarolle and Fourth Scherzo--but was to become a major problem in the subsequent Preludes and Second Sonata disc recorded in 1999.

Moving back to the good news, Kissin gives us a sizzling First Ballade but above all the probably most dramatic account of the Second Ballade in the catalogue. The disparate contrasts between the picturesquely pastoral F-major gondoliera and the stormy A-minor tsunami have never been realised with such abundance of power and vigour. Hence, it's indeed somewhat surprising that the showy Third Ballade find Kissin comparatively tame. The Fourth Ballade sounds never less than masterful in Kissin's hands; however, that introspective and elegiac beauty brought out by Moravec, Demidenko and above all Ohlsson is just not yet an integrated part of the Kissinian toolbox.

Apart from the Second Ballade, the Berceuse is the real keeper on this CD (my kudos to '50cent-haircut', whose review is spot on). The hallucinatory haze conjured up by Kissin is otherworldly (his pianississimo is virtually inhuman!)--making it the greatest version alongside Ohlsson's more lullaby-oriented magic. Both the Barcarolle and Fourth Scherzo sound good but leave an essentially superficial impression.

The RCA/SWR sound is bold and brilliant to match with the pianism--but likewise not always entirely natural. In many ways, this release shows a Kissin in transition. On occasions when he manages to merge the best of his early prodigious spontaneity and later bold maturity--as in the Scriabin Third Sonata and Stravinsky Petrushka Movements of 2004 (Scriabin: Sonata No. 3; Five Preludes; Medtner: Sonata Reminiscenza; Stravinsky: Three Movements from Pétrouchka)--he has no living rival.

TIMINGS: Ballades--9:52, 7:38, 8:00, 11:41; Berceuse--4:44; Barcarolle--8:56; Fourth Scherzo--10:33

Technique apart, one can feel the communication drawn into place by Kissin. I think this results largely from him being quite an artist REALLY true to his heart. In addition, his interpretation is evocative of: "Hmm, interesting; I never thought of that!" One such instance can be found in the Barcarolle, where he closes the introduction playing it forte. The only let-down is that Kissin lacks some of the spontaneity that Argerich possesses; but that may not be of much significance because this is KISSIN we're listening to, not Argerich!