After a 25-year separation Evgeny Kissin has re-signed with Deutsche Grammophon. The Russian child prodigy-turned-adult superstar will release a new album of Beethoven pieces in August.
Kissin first came to international attention in the early 80s, wowing audiences with his precocious piano talent. Since then he has gone on to collaborate with industry greats like Herbert von Karajan and Claudio Abbado, while his recent recital at Barbican Centre earned a rapturous five-star review in The Telegraph.
The new album is made up of live recordings made over the last decade, selected by Kissin himself.
“These recordings were made in the moment of performance,” Kissin says. “Live recordings always surpass studio albums for me, because I feel more inspired when playing for an audience. It means a lot to me to be able to share the spirit of that live experience with others.”
Clemens Trautmann, president of Deutsche Grammophon, added that: “His new album records his evolving relationship with Beethoven, a composer to whom his approach is particularly suited. Rarely is the transformation of written music into an intellectual and emotional listening experience as palpable and compelling as it is with Kissin’s Beethoven.”
Among the pieces on the two-disc set are the Moonlight, Appassionata and Les Adieux sonatas, as well as 32 Variations in C Minor.
