Event is Live
Carnegie Hall Presents

Evgeny Kissin, Piano

Tuesday, May 2, 2023 8 PM Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Evgeny Kissin by Sasha Gusov / EMI Classics
More than 30 years after pianist Evgeny Kissin’s now-legendary debut, his recitals continue to be some of Carnegie Hall’s most sought-after concerts. The virtuoso’s 2022–2023 performance begins with a timelessly pleasing piece by J. S. Bach, a seldom-heard Mozart piano sonata, and Chopin's Polonaise in F-sharp Minor. The second half of the concert features Rachmaninoff works that are both technically demanding and eminently listenable.

 

Please note that if you purchase stage seating, please arrive one hour before concert time. There will be no late seating.

Performers

Evgeny Kissin, Piano

Program

J. S. BACH Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903

MOZART Piano Sonata in D Major, K. 311

CHOPIN Polonaise in F-sharp Minor, Op. 44

RACHMANINOFF "Lilacs," Op. 21, No. 5

RACHMANINOFF Prelude in A Minor, Op. 32, No. 8

RACHMANINOFF Prelude in G-flat Major, Op. 23, No. 10

RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in C Minor, Op. 39, No. 1

RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in A Minor, Op. 39. No. 2

RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in B Minor, Op. 39. No. 4

RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in E-flat Minor, Op. 39, No. 5

RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in D Major, Op. 39. No. 9


Encores:

RACHMANINOFF Mélodie in E Major from Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3, No. 3

RACHMANINOFF Sérénade in B-flat Minor from Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3, No. 5

RACHMANINOFF Prelude in C-sharp Minor from Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3, No. 2

Event Duration

The printed program will last approximately 90 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission.
Citi
Sponsored by Citi

At a Glance

J. S. BACH  Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903

A master improviser, Bach possessed the ability to transmute his musical thoughts into sound almost at will. After hearing him extemporize on the organ, a fellow virtuoso declared, “I thought that this art was dead, but I see that in you it still lives.” Like many of Bach’s preludes, toccatas, and other works, the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue is essentially a written-down improvisation.

 

MOZART  Piano Sonata in D Major, K. 311

A comparative rarity on concert programs, the D-Major Sonata attests to Mozart’s skill in supplying music for the amateur Hausmusik market: It was written for one of the young women pianists he met on his travels in Germany and France.

 

CHOPIN  Polonaise in F-sharp Minor, Op. 44

Like his favorite composers J. S. Bach and Mozart, Chopin found a lifelong source of inspiration in dance music. The Parisian expatriate retained a deep connection with the culture of his native Poland, as evidenced by this bravura hybrid of polonaise and mazurka.

 

RACHMANINOFF  Selected Piano Pieces

Capitalizing on the popularity of his early Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Rachmaninoff composed 23 more lyrical preludes between 1901 and 1910. Of the later Études-tableaux, a contemporary critic wrote that they showed the composer “in a new light. The soft lyricist begins to employ a more severe, concentrated, and deepened mode of expression.”

Bios

Evgeny Kissin

Evgeny Kissin’s musicality, the depth and poetic quality of his interpretations, and his extraordinary virtuosity have earned him the veneration and admiration deserved only by one of the most gifted classical pianists of his generation and, arguably, generations past. He is in demand the ...

Read More

Stay Up to Date