Evgeny Kissin | |
|---|---|
Евге́ний Ки́син | |
 Kissin in 2021 | |
| Born | Evgeny Igorevich Kissin (1971-10-10)10 October 1971 (age 54) |
| Alma mater | Gnessin State Musical College |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse | |
| Parent(s) | Emilia Kissina, Igor Kissin |
| Website | kissin |
Evgeny Igorevich Kissin (Russian:Евге́ний И́горевич Ки́син,romanized: Evgénij Ígorevič Kísin, Yiddish:יעווגעני קיסין,romanized: Yevgeni Kisin; born 10 October 1971) is a Russian-bornconcert pianist andcomposer. He became a British citizen in 2002 and an Israeli citizen in 2013. He first came to international fame as achild prodigy. He has a wide repertoire and is especially known for his interpretations of the works of theRomantic era, particularly those ofFranz Schubert,Frédéric Chopin,Robert Schumann,Franz Liszt,Johannes Brahms,Sergei Rachmaninoff,Modest Mussorgsky, andLudwig van Beethoven. He is commonly viewed as a great successor of the Russian piano school because of the depth, lyricism and poetic quality of his interpretations.[1][2]
Kissin was born in Moscow to Jewish parents. Recognized as achild prodigy at age six, he began piano studies at the city'sGnessin Music School where he became a student ofAnna Kantor [ru] (1923–2021), who was to remain his only piano teacher.
At age ten he made his performing debut withMozart'sPiano Concerto No. 20 with theUlyanovsk Symphony Orchestra. A year later he gave his first recital, in Moscow. His talents were revealed outside Russia after 27 March 1984 when, still only twelve, he recorded forMelodiya both ofChopin'spiano concertos withDmitri Kitayenko and theMoscow Philharmonic at theMoscow Conservatory.
Kissin's first appearances outside Russia were in 1985 in Eastern Europe, followed a year later by his first tour of Japan.
In 1987, at age sixteen, he made his West European debut at the Berlin Festival as well as his United Kingdom debut, alongside conductorValery Gergiev and violinistsMaxim Vengerov andVadim Repin, atThe Lichfield Festival. In 1988 he toured Europe with the Moscow Virtuosi and Vladimir Spivakov and also made his London debut with the London Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev. In December of the same year he playedTchaikovsky'sPiano Concerto No. 1 withHerbert von Karajan at theBerlin Philharmonic's New Year's Eve Concert which was broadcast internationally, with the performance repeated the following year at the Salzburg Easter Festival. In September 1990, he made his North American debut playing Chopin's two piano concertos with theNew York Philharmonic underZubin Mehta and the first piano recital inCarnegie Hall's centennial season.[3]
In 1997 he gave the first solo piano recital in the history ofThe Proms in London.[4][5]
Kissin made regular recital tours of Europe, America and Asia. He has performed with nearly all the leading orchestras of the world, under such conductors asClaudio Abbado,Vladimir Ashkenazy,Daniel Barenboim,Myung-Whun Chung, SirColin Davis,Vladimir Fedoseyev,Valery Gergiev,Carlo Maria Giulini,Mariss Jansons,Herbert von Karajan,Dmitri Kitaenko,Jan Latham-Koenig,Emmanuel Krivine,James Levine,Sir Andrew Davis,Lorin Maazel,Zubin Mehta,Riccardo Muti,Andris Nelsons,Seiji Ozawa, SirAntonio Pappano, SirSimon Rattle, SirGeorg Solti,Vladimir Spivakov,Yevgeny Svetlanov andYuri Temirkanov. He has also performed chamber music withMartha Argerich,Mikhail Pletnev,Gidon Kremer,James Levine,Mischa Maisky,Thomas Quasthoff,Isaac Stern,Itzhak Perlman,Karita Mattila,Dmitry Hvorostovsky,Joshua Bell,Leonidas Kavakos,Natalia Gutman,Yuri Bashmet, Vladimir Spivakov, theEmerson String Quartet and others.[citation needed]
In addition to classical music, Kissin has given recitations ofRussian andYiddish poetry and discussed his admiration for the Yiddish language in interviews about his life.[6][7] Three CDs of Kissin's recitals from the classical and contemporary Yiddish poetry have been issued by the Forward Association.[8]
In 2018 Kissin's autobiography was published under the title ofMemoirs and Reflections.[9] In 2019 his book of poems, short stories and translations in Yiddish was published under the title "A Yiddisher Sheygets".[10] In 2021, his book of short stories and diaries in Yiddish was published under the title "Bloyz etlekhe minut gang" ("Only a few minutes by foot").
Kissin has composed numerous musical works which have been published byHenle Verlag,[11] including Four Piano Pieces, Op. 1 and Violoncello Sonata, op. 2.
His String Quartet, Op. 3 (2016) was recorded by the Kopelman Quartet on Nimbus Records and received its UK premiere on 26 February 2019 performed by the Endellion Quartet.
Kissin has been anoutspoken critic of theRussian invasion of Ukraine. In 2022, Kissin and other Russian artists signed a letter against the invasion.[12] Thepiano trio he composed in response to the invasion was premiered in Amsterdam on 14 October 2022.[citation needed] Kissin was declared a foreign agent by the Russian government in July 2024.[13]
In 2025, Kissin stated that he believes Israel is fighting a defensive war inGaza.
On 10 March 2017 Kissin married Karina Arzumanova, a childhood friend, inPrague, where they live.[14][15]
Many musical awards and tributes from around the world have been bestowed upon Kissin. In 1987 he received the Crystal Prize of theOsaka Symphony Hall for the best performance of the year in 1986 (his first performance in Japan). In 1991 he received the Musician of the Year Prize from the Chigiana Academy of Music in Siena, Italy. He performed at the 1992Grammy Awards Ceremony, where he played thefinale ofLiszt'sSpanish Rhapsody. That same year his Carnegie Hall debut album was nominated for theGrammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance, though he lost to pianistAlicia de Larrocha. He becameMusical America's youngest Instrumentalist of the Year in 1995. In 1997 he received the Triumph Award for his outstanding contribution to Russia's culture, one of the highest cultural honors to be awarded in the Russian Republic, and again, the youngest-ever awardee. He was the first pianist to be invited to give a recital at the BBC Proms (1997), and, in the 2000 season, was the first concerto soloist ever to be invited to play in the Proms opening concert.
In May 2001 Kissin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the Manhattan School of Music. In December 2003 in Moscow, he received the Shostakovich Award, one of Russia's highest musical honors. In June 2005 he was awarded an Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music in London. In March 2009 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Hong Kong.
Media related toEvgeny Kissin at Wikimedia Commons
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