Evgeny Igorevich Kissin was born in Moscow on the 10th of October 1971. He started to play the piano at the age of two, as soon as he was tall enough to reach the keyboard and he has not looked back from that day to this. His is a very rare story of continued success that has had the simultaneous blessing of critics, the public and musicians alike. This film by Christopher Nupen shows Kissin in preparation, interview, rehearsal and performance, with several dazzling performances shot live on stage, in true concert conditions. It also contains all the encores from Kissin's memorable Promenade concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in August, 1997—the first Prom concert by a soloist, it attracted the biggest audience in all the 103 year history, very nearly six thousand people. The music is by Liszt, Gluck, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Paganini, Kissin himself and Chopin, the composer for whom Kissin feels the closest affinity.
Direction
Nupen's patient intimacy reveals the artist, not the myth.
Score
Chopin through Kissin's fingers becomes pure distilled feeling.
Director
Christopher Nupen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 1997 Proms appearance was unprecedented—a soloist commanding the Royal Albert Hall without orchestra, breaking 103 years of tradition.
Kissin composed his own encores but rarely records them; this film preserves versions he has since retired from performance.
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