Search - Robert Schumann, Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Edvard Grieg :: Schumann: Piano Concerto

Kissin at his Best

03/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The concerto is performed very lyrically, poetically, songfully. It's Kissin at his best. The fillers for solo piano are rich with colorful filigree, supple rubato, brilliantly articulated lines. This is a marvelous album. Kissin fans should not hesitate to add it to their collections."

An encouraging bravo for Kissin, who may need it

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 12/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kissin was 21 when he performed the Schumann Concerto with Giulini and the Vienna Phil. in the spring of 1992, before returning in the fall to record the remaining solo works. In every piece he shows off his forceful, attention-grabbing virtuosity, which manages to remain touchingly poetic even when the music is expressed on a large scale (Liszt's transcription of Schubert's Erlkonig makes you believe that the lone rider, his son, and the horse were devoured by a lion).



Giulini had lost a lot of vitality by 1992, but his accompaniment of the concerto is actually a bit fast. Kissin doesn't dawdle, either, and ttogether they produce an outward-looking reading that for me gratefully offsets the hesitant self-consciousness of most performances. Kissin has always been fine in Schumann, and his Arabeske is immaculate and fresh--it's the most musical pianism on the CD, along with the concluding Liszt Soirees de Vienne waltz #6.



The showstoppers, however, are the four song transcriptions, two of Schubert (Die Forelle and Erlkonig in the liszt version, both astounding in their effortless dazzle) and two by Grieg, more charming and simple. Overall, this is an exceptional outing for Kissin, who has fallen into deadening virtuoso grandstanding lately. A pity given that his great gift isn't for fireworks but poetry."