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Arts preview: Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin plays Schubert and Scriabin

Sam Olluver

Sam Olluver


 

Forty years ago, a youngster in Moscow sat at a piano and started to improvise. Unremarkable maybe, except that the young Russian was only two years old; four years later, he was absorbed into Moscow's centre for gifted musicians, the Gnessin State School of Music.

That wunderkind was Evgeny Kissin, who went on to take the piano world by storm. He'll be appearing here for a recital in the Cultural Centre's Concert Hall. Get a ticket if you can.

Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin. Photo: Sasha Gusov
His programme features works by just two composers: Schubert and Scriabin. The pieces require intellectual depth and faultless technique, two qualities for which Kissin has long been internationally acknowledged.

Schubert died in 1828, having always been overshadowed by Beethoven. The latter continued to cast a long shadow after his death in 1827, not least with his monumental piano sonatas, which contributed to the neglect of Schubert's piano works in the 19th century.

While Schubert's output of songs was prodigious and quickly acclaimed, his catalogue of keyboard music seemed to hiccup, and many efforts were left incomplete.

The Sonata No 17, D. 850, however, is one of his fully fledged, mature works for the instrument. had this accolade for the pianist: "As the [slow] movement unfolded with a flawless balance of proportions, I had the sense that I was witnessing not an interpretation but an act of creation as Mr Kissin brought sound into being, one finger daub at a time."

Sensitivity is also required for the music of Alexander Scriabin. The two movements of his 10-minute Piano Sonata No 2 are like chalk and cheese: the first delicately impressionistic, the second driven by technically challenging gestures.

The recital ends with a set from Scriabin's Douze Études, Op 8, a further showcase for Kissin's ear for detail and technical skill, qualities which have won him countless awards and tributes from around the world.

An honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Hong Kong is among these honours.

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Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, 10 Salisbury Road, TST, April 7, 8pm,HK$200-HK$720 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2268 7321

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Last of the romantics
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