Customer Reviews

Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have spent the latest week listening to Kissin's newest CD. And here are my thoughts:

Bach/Busoni:
Kissin's clear tone suits the work perfectly. His tone is sharp and the pedalling is held to moderation. The toccata is virtuosic at times and Kissin rses to sound as a whole organ. The adagio is slow and beautifuly colored by Kissin. Each phrase has weight and you sink in your chair listening to it. But the best is yet to come, the fugue. I wish Kissin would play more poliphonic music like fugues because he is a master at dragging forward inner voices. His fingers seem to have individual life and the lines eash gain their own existance. Listen to the beginning of the fugue, such clarity, focus and calm. The breath of tone in this work displayed by Kissin shows clearly his capability to make the piano sound like any other instrument he likes, organ, orchestra or what ever.

Glinka/Balakirev:
Small work I haven't heard elsewhere. Melancolic, slow and beautiful. An ok break between the two major works on the disc.

Mussorgsky:
Listening to Kissin led me into yet one Pictures-mania. So, there has been a lot of comparisons this week. I must say it straight out: genius! This is what I call a high class performance. In his last CD (Chopin: 2nd sonata, preludes) his tone got a bit to hard at times, and I was curious is he would try the power-path of Horowitz or the poeticism of Richter. I am glad he choose the latter, although I love Horowitz's version(s). Take for exaple the Bydlo. Yes, Horowitz is funny and exiting when he unleashes a thunderous left in the high climax. But such a force makes the bydlo more of a crasy bull than a slow, fat and lumpish ox, making heavy steps. Kissin hold back the banging and portraies the bydlo as slow but powerful force. The fast sections, like the market or the ballet of the chickens, sparkle with life. The grand gate of Kiev is magnificent, truly grand and noble.

Conclusion: A CD to treasure as it contains a stunnig Bach/Busoni and one of the very best pictures ever, arguably the best pictures for a long long time. Kissin is the successor to Richter and Horowitz in Mussorgsky, no doubt in my mind.

Mussorgsky's Pictures is the focus of this disc. Kissin's approach to this formidable piece was superb. His "Gate of Kiev" is really magnificent. The ballet of chickens and "the market" are sparkling with life. I have compared Kissin's performance with that of Richter's 1958 live performance. Both are superb performances in terms of technicality and musicianship. But in terms of sound quality, Kissin's Pictures surpasses Richter's. The two bonus pieces- Glinka's "The Lark" and Bach were also beautifully played.

This long anticipated cd of Kissin playing Bach/Busoni, Musorgsky, Glinka/Balakiriev should more than fill anybody's expectations and confirm his standing as one of the greatest pianists alive. From the organ sonorities of the Bach "Toccata" to the hushed singing of Glinka's "Lark", and through every characterization of Mussorgsk's "Pictures", Kissin is in full command of his powers. Every articulation, nuance, crescendo, is perfectly balanced and even more, in this cd he is absolutely giving first attention to the music rather than himself. He chooses to play the final entries of the Mussorgsky with controlled strength when most pianists choose to rip through this trying to emulate Richter's legendary performances. In the adagio of the Bach/Busoni work, he acheives a sense of spaciousness and yet every note is clear and he never blurs the lines. The following fuge is brilliantly articulated with attention never faltering. A great performance only matched by Horowitz indeed. Glinka's "The Lark" as transformed by Balakiriev is virtuosity of another kind - all the figurations serving a singing line which in this performance is held. In all, Kissin gives some of the best performances these works have ever received and these may become the standard until a new generation of pianists comes along.

I was fortunate enough to hear Kissin perform all three pieces (as well as a Schumann Sonata and many short encores) in Ann Arbor in October, 2001, not long after he made this recording. His performance of "Pictures at an Exhibition" was stunning, a truly unforgettable concert-hall experience that totally involved the listener. Everyone in the audience was on the edge of their seats, not wanting to miss a single note, and the standing ovation that exploded at the end was spontaneous and heartfelt, not the "pro forma" response audiences are often criticized for giving indiscriminately.

Kissin shows a remarkable level of emotional connection with his music for someone so young (he is 30), and his technical virtuosity, always of the highest calibre, has only gotten better. This recording of "Pictures" is the new standard by which all others must be judged. While it does not completely displace Richter's famous Sofia recital, the sound is far superior and Kissin's interpretation is just as compelling as Richter's (and without any misplayed notes).

The Bach-Busoni is also excellent, and this recording will give the listener hours of pleasure. If you get a chance to hear this brilliant artist in concert, you will be able to appreciate his talent even more completely.

For me personally, you can't go wrong with Kissin's interpretations. While they may be a little different from the norm, they are nevertheless convincing. And so is the case with Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. I was a little worried when I first heard the opening movement, he starts off at a fairly brisk tempo and I thought that he was just going to be zooming through the whole thing because he can. But he slows it back in various movements, and overall clocks in at almost 35 minutes for the whole piece, which was satisfying.

While Pictures is the main focus on the CD, the accompaning pieces, the Bach-Busoni and the Glink-Balakirev are just as well performed. I enjoyed them very much, but I'm not the one that should be rating these performances. I've only heard one other version of the Bach-Busoni and have never heard the Glinka-Balakirev on CD...it seems fairly hard to find.

It probably seems pointless for me to tell you to go buy this CD. Kissin is the type of artist that even if you didn't like the way he performs, you most likely will still buy his records and read reviews and attend his concerts. And Kissin fans will gobble up his music no matter what kind of reviews it gets anyways. But I'll go ahead and say it...go buy this album, it's very good.

Kissin once again demonstrates unusually limpid playing and fine taste.

The Bach/Busoni is excellent. I really like Busoni's transcription, perhaps even more so than the one he did of Chaconne. This transcription was made to order for Kissin's sonorous side.

To understate matters greatly, the third movement presents slight technical difficulties for all those who find playing arpeggios in octaves frightening. Fortunately for us, Kissin does not find such feats difficult, and the result is spectacular. At 2'30 this piece really takes flight, and almost makes the disc.

But I think I'm now overstating matters, since the Mussorgsky recording is one of the best around. If you liked Richter's aggressive account, you'll like this one. For the most part, their interpretations converge. I liked Richter's Limoges marche better for its absolutely heart pounding crescendo near the end; Kissin's leads to an adrenaline rush but stops short of causing palpitations. The market surely came alive for me in Richter's recording, although one might protest that Richter's cresendo made it seem like the market had exploded - that's not necessarily a bad thing, however.

Kissin's Baba-Yaga (track 19) may be definitive. Unfortunately it's so good that it might even overshadow the ending, but that criticism isn't necessarily an apt one here. Although not absolute music - since it's trying to capture the mood of Hartman's works - it's still impressionist, and as such not overly formulaic. There's no reason you need a barn storming ending. As it stands the ending is grand, just slightly adumbrated because of Kissin's Baba-Yaga performance.

The Lark is beautiful and provides a nice transition. The piece is a transcription of a song written by Glinka. Glinka's Lark, in the song, wishes sweetly that when she's gone someone will remember her and sigh. If he keeps giving the world recording such as this one, the Lark's wish will surely come to fruition for Kissin.

As with many of the other reviewers of this disc, I have my own mental reference points for these pieces. With regard to the Bach-Busoni, however, my reference point is not Horowitz, but Emil Gilels, from the first volume of the Great Pianists series. Comparing the two recordings leads me to the conclusion that the Kissen recording is preferable. Not only is the sound quality significantly better in general, but Kissen displays lightness of touch and clarity in the various polyrhythms. I agree with the other reviewers who wished Kissen would play more Bach.

With regard to the Mussoursky, I (like your other reviewers) tend to default to Richter, although I have heard several performers play this piece. While Kissen's technique is once again formidable, he seems to have tried to delve too much into the psychology and/or setting of some of the "picture" pieces. These leads to some wonderful charcterizations, but also to some pieces that simply seem too slow. I prefer the Richter, with its more consistent pacing. This version certainly qualifies as an interesting alternative, however.

Kissin's rendering of Pictures at an Exhibition is piano playing of the highest order. Possibly it is as good as, or even exceeds, Richter's legendary 1958 Sofia recital version. The Bach-Busoni is equally excellent; Kissin evokes the tonal range of the organ as few pianists have. He is masterful.

I've been buying Carnegie Hall piano recital series tickets for the last several years solely so I can hear Kissin; one puts up with a lot of insipidity in the process, but it's the only way to get tickets for this inspired performer. Every concert evokes the same reaction in me: this youngster is Horowitz and Rubinstein combined. Incredible! I have heard his Mussorgsky in concert, and this disc captures it, all the power, all the brooding majesty. It is beyond belief. Maybe it's time to stop buying series tickets and just buy all Kissin's discs, because I can do without the insipidity of others. What I can't do is hear anything so deliriously beautiful coming out of any other set of ten fingers.

I am a big fan of Kissin's recorded works and live performances. This version of Pictures at an Exhibition is one of the best in the catalog. If you only know the work from the Ravel orchestration, you really owe it to yourself to hear the original. Unlike the other reviewers here so far I really disliked the Bach/Busoni (which takes up 18 min of the disc). Some sections played "romantically" in inappropriate places, others played with metronomic precision that sounds dull and boring (unlike the amazing polyphonic feel that Glenn Gould could get from such an approach). Buy it for the Pictures and you won't be sorry, but find 1st class Bach elsewhere.