As a child prodigy who grew into one of the most respected and in-demand artists of his era, Evgeny Kissin electrifies every stage on which he performs—and the stage at the Verbier Festival has borne witness to dozens of vintage Kissin concerts, beginning with its very first edition in 1994. Take a look back on some of our favorite moments, where you’ll see him both solo and accompanied by some friends whose faces you just might recognize…
This treasure trove of archives opens with Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2—one of the most beloved works in the repertoire, executed to heartrending perfection. Kissin takes the spotlight for himself in showstopping renditions of Beethoven, Brahms, and Liszt’s formidable Sonata in B Minor; then he joins fellow Verbier mainstays Joshua Bell and Mischa Maisky in a gorgeous Tchaikovsky trio, Charles Dutoit in Chopin’s passionate Second Piano Concerto, and a whole cast of all-stars (including Emanuel Ax, Lang Lang, and Nicholas Angelich) in a selection of crowd-pleasers from Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries to American patriotic tunes and even Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee in an eight-piano arrangement! On the way, don’t miss a performance of Kissin’s own composition, the Cello and Piano Sonata interpreted by the stellar Yuja Wang and Gautier Capuçon.
Evgeny Kissin appears courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon.