Evgeny Kissin - Chopin Polonaises & Impromptus-Verbier Recital (2007)

Recorded live, this Chopin program featuring three Impromptus, four Polonaises, and the Fantasie-Impromptu has all the electricity of a performance. Kissin, who captivated the world two decades ago as a sensational prodigy, is today a spectacular pianist and compelling personality. His virtuosity is by now taken for granted, but perhaps most extraordinary is his uncanny ability to change mood and expression instantaneously and to pace and build up climaxes. This is a matter not only of technique but of emotional concentration and involvement, yet it would be impossible without his mastery of touch, color, and nuance. Kissin's tone is beautiful: he can make the piano sing in long, sustained lines and his runs are brilliant and fleet but perfectly clear. The left-hand octaves in the A-flat major Polonaise are a miracle of speed and feathery lightness. As always, Kissin plays with great expressive and rhythmic freedom, but his liberties are not as spontaneous as they used to be: though poised, they stay the same in all repeats and are often excessive, as if they had become entrenched through too many performances. There is no hint of the improvisatory quality implied in the title "Impromptu." Can it be that Kissin's former sense of freshness and wonder has fallen victim to the pace of his career?